College Application Management Software: 10 Top Solutions

For colleges and universities of all shapes and sizes, the admissions process has a lot of moving parts. As you’re moving applications through each stage while filtering out the best candidates for your school or program, applicants are trying to keep their information organized and do everything they can to stand out.

This is where college application management software comes in. By funneling applications through one unified system (or a few that work together), your entire admissions team can stay organized as they identify standout applicants at each step of the process.

In this guide, we’ll answer some common questions about college application management software before diving into some of the best options available. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Why Use College Application Management Software?

• What Features Should You Look for in College Application Software?

• 10 Top College Application Management Solutions

College application software is a long-term investment. Before your admissions team commits to a solution, it’s important to learn as much as you can about the available platforms and your school’s needs in order to choose the software that will provide maximum effectiveness. Let’s get started!

Why Use College Application Management Software?

Investing in specialized software benefits both your college and prospective students. Here are a few of the main benefits from the university side:

• Streamlined operations. The right platforms make the entire application process more efficient, from receiving submissions to issuing decisions. Your admissions team can easily review a high volume of applications in a short period of time.

• Organization and standardization. If all applications to a specific school or program are processed through the same software, you can maintain consistency even when multiple reviewers are involved. Plus, you always know where applications are in the process so your team can be on the same page.

• Improved data analysis. Most college admissions software comes with reporting tools to help you identify trends in applications and gain data-driven insights into how you can improve your process over time.

On the applicants’ side, college application management software makes several aspects of their process easier. Prospective students can submit all of their materials through a user-friendly online platform, pay their application fees conveniently and securely, and receive real-time status updates.

What Features Should You Look for in College Application Software?

Every school and program has unique needs and goals when it comes to admissions. Consider sitting down with your team to brainstorm and prioritize the most essential software features that will meet those requirements before beginning your search.

However, it’s generally beneficial to look for the following essentials in your college application management solution:

• Customization capabilities. You should be able to configure application timelines, submission forms, reviewer permissions, and other key aspects of the process to achieve the best results for your individual school.

• Progress tracking. Make sure you can view and update the status of each application easily to improve workload management and internal communication.

• Communication tools. In addition to communicating effectively with your team, your software should allow you to quickly send external messages to students informing them about the status of their application or answering any questions they may have.

• Secure reporting protocols. Your chosen platform should not only create individualized reports of the data that is most useful for your admissions team, but also ensure that sensitive student information such as contact and payment details are protected.

Once you find a platform that includes these tools, evaluate the additional features the solution provides to determine whether it could meet your school or program’s needs. Also, make sure the software works for the size of your college and that the cost is within your budget.

10 Top College Application Management Solutions

As you research admissions software for your college, remember that you may need to invest in more than one solution. Besides the main platform you use to manage general applications to your university, you might choose another solution that offers unique add-on features you want to include in your admissions process. Particular programs or departments may also need their own tailored management software depending on their application processes.

With that in mind, here are 10 of the top providers for college application management software:

1. Acceptd

Acceptd is the premier audition management and application software for performing arts programs of all shapes and sizes. Even if your college or university uses a different platform to organize general applications, your music, theater, and dance departments will need their own software to effectively review artist portfolios and schedule auditions.

With Acceptd, your performing arts programs gain access to a variety of essential audition features, such as:

• Custom applications to allow you to recruit the best artists for your program.

• Access for multiple reviewers at both the prescreen and live audition stages.

• User-friendly navigation on both the organizational and applicant side.

• Payment processing so students can pay application fees quickly and securely.

• Data reporting tools, including exporting and API integration capabilities.

• Seamless integration with several general college application management platforms, such as Salesforce Education Cloud and Slate by Technolutions.

Acceptd’s Audition Room also provides your school with a comprehensive platform to host virtual live auditions. For both application management and auditions, the Acceptd support team will come alongside yours to guide your staff and prospective students through the entire process—they’ve got your back!

2. Salesforce Education Cloud

Salesforce Education Cloud is the school-focused branch of the leading vendor in customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. The Education Cloud offers a comprehensive solution for colleges and universities to fundraise, recruit, and manage admissions.

Besides being part of a trusted solution network, a major benefit of Salesforce Education Cloud is its scalability. Any higher education institution can use it to easily manage applications, from the smallest liberal arts colleges to the largest state universities. This is made possible by a combination of customizable application processes, a user-friendly interface, and a common capability model that helps ensure consistency.

3. Slate by Technolutions

More than 1,700 colleges and universities leverage Slate by Technolutions in their college admissions process. Slate combines recruitment, application management, data analysis, fundraising, and more into one user-friendly platform.

Some of Slate’s key features include:

• A drag-and-drop form builder that automatically transfers each applicant’s data to their individual profiles.

• A unified constituent relationship management system to track interactions, report on application status, and store applicants’ materials.

• Automation for both SMS text messaging and email marketing, made easier by responsive templates.

Technolutions also offers Slate.org, a free tool for school counselors and community organizations to interact with the colleges their students are applying to. The solution streamlines submitting recommendations and scheduling visits with college representatives while providing real-time updates on where each application is in the admissions process.

4. Embark Campus

Embark Campus is the higher education product of the Embark solution network. Since Embark focuses primarily on hiring, the Campus platform provides recruitment and enrollment management services for both undergraduate and graduate programs, in addition to scholarship and study abroad application creation.

Embark Campus’s main focus is improving student outcomes through streamlining the application process. Their site features a separate Applicant Support Center from their client support services, and they offer the option to include several add-ons in the application process such as video interviews and flexible portfolio submissions. Additionally, they help each college create a customized, branded application site to provide a professional experience for prospective students.

5. Element451

Element451 is an all-in-one CRM platform for higher education institutions. The company prides itself on helping colleges stay on top of recruitment trends in the digital age and create an admissions experience focused on upcoming, younger generations of college students.

Through Element451’s AI-powered, automated marketing tools, colleges can quickly send communications to individual prospective students at every stage of the recruitment and application process. This personalized support helps reduce uncertainty and build stronger relationships with applicants. Plus, the CRM keeps all student information organized as your admissions team makes decisions.

6. LeadSquared

While its CRM platform works for a variety of organizations, LeadSquared customizes many solutions for higher education institutions. This solution includes several unique features, such as:

• Automated pre- and post-application processes, including student inquiry capture and offer letter generation.

• A separate dashboard to track admissions counselor efficiency in addition to admissions director information and marketing performance data.

• Mobile-friendliness so your admissions team can access CRM functionality from anywhere.

All of these features work alongside LeadSquared’s advanced communication capabilities and custom applicant portals to make application management effective and efficient.

7. Mautic by Higher Education Marketing

Mautic by Higher Education Marketing (HEM) is based on the Mautic open-source marketing automation platform, and HEM adapted it into a fully equipped CRM and communications solution for colleges and universities. As a result, the platform specializes in lead tracking and automating follow-up with prospective students, but also contains workflow and admissions management tools.

Mautic by HEM’s main differentiating factor is its focus on segmentation. College admissions teams can easily group prospective students based on their application status, location, program interest, or additional custom criteria to ensure the right  messages reach the right applicants.

8. DegreeSight

For schools that often attract transfer students, DegreeSight offers a tailored solution to not only manage transfer applications, but also support these students throughout their college journey. This secure, integrated platform allows colleges and universities to:

• Promote themselves as transfer-friendly institutions through targeted communications.

• Ensure all eligible transfer credits are accepted and added to students’ records.

• Support transfer students’ advisors by automating workflows and data collection.

• Simplify the transfer application process to help students accurately assess their graduation timeline.

By providing all of these functions in one platform tailored to the needs of transfer students, DegreeSight can help colleges retain students and improve graduation rates.

9. Wisenet

Wisenet is a comprehensive student management system made for private higher education. With an increased focus on security and compliance, the platform ensures all prospective student data is protected throughout the entire application process.

Additionally, Wisenet’s software features a robust applicant-to-enrollment pipeline system. Colleges can manage applicant progress not just from submission to decision, but all the way through signing up for courses and paying tuition through the secure payment processor. The student management solution also integrates with a CRM and online learning platform from the same provider for additional flexibility.

10. VidCruiter

For colleges that want to include video interviews as part of the admissions process, VidCruiter provides a customizable solution. The platform supports both pre-recorded video and virtual live interviews, either in groups or one-on-one. Colleges can also develop skills assessments for specific programs and watch them back later.

In all of these functionalities, the platform aims to support an equitable admissions process. With a variety of accessibility options and structured interview rating scales available, there are many ways to ensure all applicants have an equal shot at admission through VidCruiter.

College Application Management Software: The Bottom Line

The 10 solutions above are some of the best providers of college application software available, but before your school invests in any of them, make sure to compare features and pricing to ensure you choose the most effective solution. And again, remember that specific programs at your college might require their own software in addition to your main management system—for performing arts departments, look no further than Acceptd!

If you want to learn more about the college application management process, check out these additional resources:

• What to Look for in an Audition Scheduling Tool. Discover the specific features your college’s performing arts programs need to schedule and manage prospective students’ auditions.

• 3 Ways Colleges Can Recruit for Free. Supplement your college application software’s communication at no additional cost through these free methods.

• Acceptd Profiles: Tell Us About Yourself! Explore the student side of Acceptd’s solution by learning more about what an artist profile looks like.