Less Complexity, More Progress: What Higher Ed’s Technology Priorities Mean for Institutions

Higher ed IT teams are expected to keep systems running, protect institutional data, support students and staff, and adopt new technology, often without adding additional staff or budget. Meanwhile, enrollment patterns are shifting, student expectations keep rising, and AI is raising new questions about where institutions should focus their attention.

The 2027 EDUCAUSE Top 10 report, The Age of Perpetual Change, highlights many of these challenges, including reducing friction across technology experiences, working within real-world constraints, strengthening data governance, and determining where AI adds real value.

If you work at a small or midsize institution, none of that is news. The real work is choosing the changes that will make a meaningful difference and making them happen with the resources you have. Here are the three areas we believe small and midsize colleges and universities can make practical progress. 

1. Make Your Systems Work Better Together

EDUCAUSE’s focus on reducing friction is a useful reminder: more tools rarely make campus operations easier.

Most institutions run admissions, registration, financial aid, billing, and learning management on a mix of systems. When those systems don’t talk to each other, staff may have to re-enter information, chase down missing data, or build manual workarounds just to get through the day. That takes time away from other priorities and can make it harder to get students and staff the information they need.

That’s why integration belongs at the center of any technology review. Your SIS should connect the tools your institution already depends on, not become one more disconnected system to manage.

For IT leaders, that means looking past the feature list. Even solutions from the same vendor may not be natively integrated, so ask how systems connect with your existing applications and whether the approach will hold up as your needs change. You don’t need to replace every tool on campus. You just need the systems you rely on to work together.

2. Choose Technology That Fits Your Institution

EDUCAUSE also highlights working within real-world constraints. At smaller institutions, that’s simply the job.

A handful of people likely support your entire campus. Budgets are tight, and the same staff evaluating new technology still have to keep current systems running. So, the true cost of a decision goes well beyond the purchase price. Implementation, maintenance, integrations, training, and support all factor into the total cost.

A long feature list doesn’t necessarily make a system the right fit if it adds complexity your team doesn’t need or demands resources you don’t have. Staying on an outdated system has costs of its own, too, including manual processes, reporting headaches, and hours spent working around limitations. The right choice fits how your institution runs today and gives you the room you need to grow.

If you’re evaluating a new SIS, start with these questions:

• Does it support the processes our institution relies on?
• Will it integrate with the campus technology we already use?
• Are implementation costs and expectations clear from day one?
• What support will our team get during and after the implementation process?
• Will it continue to meet our needs as our institution grows and changes?

The answers to these questions will tell you more about a system’s fit than any side-by-side feature comparison.

Smaller institutions shouldn’t have to take on unnecessary cost and complexity to modernize their SIS. Thesis Elements works closely with your institution to plan implementation around your timeline, priorities, and available resources.

3. Get Your Data and Processes Ready for What’s Next

Data governance and shifting enrollment patterns both make EDUCAUSE’s list, and both point to the need for reliable information to support sound decisions.

Institutions need accurate student and enrollment data to manage operations, understand what’s happening across campus, and plan ahead. When that information is scattered across disconnected systems, or every report takes hours of manual work, a clear picture is hard to come by.

Your SIS is a central part of how student information and core administrative processes are managed. When it works well with the rest of your campus technology, your teams get a stronger foundation for reporting and everyday decisions.

That foundation also shapes what you can do with AI. EDUCAUSE puts determining where AI adds real value at the top of its 2027 list, and that framing matters. You don’t need to adopt a tool just because it exists. Start with the problem:

• Where is your staff losing time to repetitive work?
• Which processes are ready to improve?
• What information would help your teams make better decisions?
• What needs to be in place to use data responsibly?

Those answers can help distinguish useful opportunities from technology that doesn’t address a real need. A dependable SIS, connected systems, and well-managed data can also give institutions a stronger foundation as they evaluate what’s next, including AI.

Start With What Will Make A Difference

The 2027 EDUCAUSE Top 10 highlights the technology priorities facing higher education, but every institution will approach them differently.

For some, the next step may be improving integrations. For others, it may be replacing an aging SIS, reducing manual work, or making better use of the data they already have. Whatever your starting point, begin with the problems your institution needs to solve, then choose the technology that solves them.

Thesis Elements works exclusively with small and midsize institutions to modernize student information systems, connect campus technology, and support the people who keep it running. Every institution deserves a system that fits, a clear path to implementation, and a partner who stays engaged well beyond go-live. Because moving forward doesn’t mean making things more complicated.

Looking for a student information system that fits your institution’s unique needs? See how Thesis Elements helps small and midsize colleges and universities simplify day-to-day work, connect their systems, and move forward with confidence.

Start a conversation with our team.