Axiom Higher Education Student & Tuition Planning Solutions Brochure

Axiom EPM:

Student and Tuition Planning Higher Education Solutions Brochure

Applied Financial Intelligence

The Problem

Effective student and tuition planning remains an elusive goal for many universities Multiple upheavals, from the pandemic to the impact of Brexit, have placed considerable pressure on higher education finance teams to forecast, plan and react to changes whose effects we are only just beginning to comprehend.

And one of the biggest challenges for universities right now is successfully forecasting and modelling future student numbers and the associated tuition fee income.

Right now, externalities such as Brexit and the pandemic are causing universities a number of challenges around their student planning and tuition fee planning and forecasting, such as: • Reduction in international and European student enrolments • The impact of the pandemic on domestic student enrolment and attrition rates

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• Uncertainty surrounding government and corporate funding • The challenge of moving to digital and hybrid tuition models, and the potential effects on demand There’s never been a more critical time for agile, robust financial planning solutions that can cope with a breadth of future scenarios.

This is where Axiom can help.

The Solution

Axiom enables you to test, not guess, the future Model student numbers, tuition rates and fees and easily create scenarios that show the impact of changes.

Axiom’s student and tuition planning solution, part of our wider higher education suite, enables universities to plan for an uncertain future by modelling multiple future scenarios.

With Axiom, the tuition planning process can be fully aligned and unified with the operational budget and long-range plan. This alignment ensures that budgeting decisions are based on accurate tuition and enrolment data rather than outdated spreadsheets. Axiom can model an unlimited number of tuition rates and fees, which then can be applied to a cohort or programme level of detail.

Institutions can easily compare potential courses of action by modelling new programmes and varying assumptions for existing programmes.

Key capabilities include: • Data integration from student and GL systems • Support for centralised or de-centralised planning approaches • Versioning support so individual planners can create versions while adhering to centrally set assumptions • Flexible modelling to support an unlimited number of tuition rates and fees • Driver-based scenarios • Reporting that aggregates tuition and enrolment data into a financial planning summary • Intuitive, browser-based input forms • Managed workflow to drive the planning process Axiom users also have access to our ongoing investment in higher education. Software updates are made available regularly, enabling clients to take advantage of the latest technology advances.

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Features

Axiom enables you to incorporate student and tuition planning into the financial planning process Student and tuition planning play a central role in funding most institutions, so planning for future enrolment and tuition is a critical first step in the overall financial planning process.

In both the near and long term, tuition and enrolment are key drivers of operational performance that will determine the institution’s ability to fund its programmatic and administrative infrastructure and invest in future growth.

As a best practice, detailed tuition planning should inform the level of spending authorised in the upcoming operational budget and provide a jumping-off point for longer-term tuition planning scenarios that serve as a key input into an integrated, long-range financial plan.

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Tuition Plan

Long-Range Plan

Higher-level, multi-year strategic financial plan that encompasses the institution’s full financial picture

Detailed, student-level data aggregated to product multi-year tution, fee, and aid projection

Operating Budget

Detailed, single-year view of the institution’s operations

In both the near and long term, tuition and enrolment are key drivers of operational performance

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Axiom’s student and tuition planning solution has a wealth of features to help you succeed Align student information with financial data.

Axiom enables institutions to combine general ledger and student data, which eliminates disjointed spreadsheets, creates a single source of the truth, and preserves data integrity. Users can view real-time financial data that is impacted by rapidly changing enrolment numbers.

Institutions can analyse how enrolment, retention, tuition rates, and fees drive financial outcomes, building a solid foundation for future projections.

Data Sources Financial System Created Cr eated by joni from the Noun Pr from Projec ojectt

Student Information System

General Ledger: • Provides the historical tuition and fee revenue as well as financial aid Student:

Components

• Provides the historical enrolment metrics (head counts, credit hours)

Enrolment Created Cr eated by joni from the Noun Pr from Projec ojectt

• Defines student populations into groups relevant for planning (cohorts, programmes, residency status, and more) • Calculates historical retention rates

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Analytics & Outputs Scenarios Created Cr eated by joni from the Noun Pr from Projec ojectt

Tuition Revenue

‘What if’ Analysis

Fee Revenue

Approved Tuition Plan

Financial Aid

Use data to analyse drivers behind financial outcomes.

Once institutions have access to the data, the challenge becomes how to use it across the institution for planning.

Data Sources Financial System Created Cr eated by joni from the Noun Pr from Projec ojectt

Student Information System

Modern planning technology helps combine general ledger and student data to create a single source of the truth and analyse the drivers behind financial outcomes.

Components Enrolment

Scenarios

Created Cr eated by joni from the Noun Pr from Projec ojectt

For example, users can view real-time financial data impacted by rapidly changing enrolment numbers. These assumptions can then be used across other planning processes, such as the operating budget and long-range planning.

Analytics & Outputs Created Cr eated by joni from the Noun Pr from Projec ojectt

Tuition Revenue

‘What if’ Analysis

Fee Revenue

Approved Tuition Plan

Financial Aid

Long-Range Planning

Created by joni from the Noun Project

Integration Options

Operating Budget

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Perform scenario analysis through flexible modelling.

Axiom enables institutions to perform scenario analysis through flexible modelling so university leaders can easily compare potential courses of action by creating scenarios to mix and match assumptions and initiatives.

Key capabilities include:

External Enrollment Demand Scenario A: Downside Case

Scenario B: Base Case

Scenario C: Upside Case

Programme Offerings

• Create scenarios that show the impact of growth/reduction enrolment assumptions, tuition rate changes, differential tuition rates, and the impact of adding new programmes • Predict tuition and fee revenue based on user-defined assumptions and trend data • Leverage flexible modelling to support an unlimited number of tuition rates and fees, which then can be applied to a cohort or programme level of detail

Tuition Rate Discount Rate Net Tuition Generated Financial Impact Negative Neutral Positive

• Integrate this model with the operational budget and long-range plan Aggregating the planning outputs into dashboards and analytics enables institutions to analyse the results of mix-and-match scenarios to determine the financial impact.

Robust scenario-analysis capability allows institutions to understand the full spectrum of potential outcomes and develop effective strategies to achieve their goals.

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Foster collaboration by supporting a centralised and decentralised approach.

Axiom lets you organise the process of gathering user inputs, evaluating options, and selecting informed courses of action. It enables collaboration across the institution by supporting centralised and decentralised approaches.

Central Finance Office

University budget offices can set central assumptions, while departmental users, whose knowledge can help develop more accurate forecasts, can use the solution’s planning and analysis tools while adhering to centrally set assumptions.

The collaborative nature of the software encourages additional stakeholder buy-in and participation, which speeds up the planning process.

School Finance Office

Admissions Office

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Conclusion

Axiom equips your decision makers for truly effective, data-driven decision making Institutions that adopt modern technology can overcome common tuition planning challenges to develop more accurate forecasts of future tuition and anticipate changes before they occur.

They can align the tuition planning process with the operational budget and long-range plan and understand how it impacts their institution’s overall financial plan, which is critical to sustained success.

To find out more about Axiom’s suite of financial planning and management solutions for higher education, visit: https://axiomepm.co.uk/sectors/higher-education/

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Worldwide over 50 universities are using Axiom software We are very well established in the higher education sector, working with around 50 universities worldwide including University College London (UCL), Stanford and Yale.

With the experience and number of customers we have in the sector, we’ve been able to build specific planning modules to support the processes that are individual to universities, such as Grants Planning and Tuition Fee Planning.

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We enable higher education institutions to manage their financial position to ensure long-term success.

With clients including small and large public and private universities, our broad experience brings best practices to your campuses.

Axiom is a key system at UCL and is at the heart of financial planning, forecasting and analytics. The system is fully integrated with ERP (ORACLE) and student records systems (SITS), which get refreshed on a daily basis.”

Phil Harding, Director of Finance and Business Affairs UCL

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Customers value our powerful forecasting capabilities, flexibility, ease of use and the ability to customise.

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Axiom Applied Financial Intelligence Axiom provides performance management tools for higher education finance teams and executives, optimising how you budget, forecast, plan, report, and much more.

By using Axiom software, university finance teams increase their agility and improve data analysis, to better understand the drivers that affect their institution.

Built on 30 years of expertise in planning, forecasting, profitability analytics and cost management, Axiom equips your decision makers for truly effective, data-driven decision making. Our specialised higher education modules cover all aspects of university financial performance, from grant planning to tuition fee planning, capital planning, commitment planning, budgeting and forecasting, cash flow management, and much more.

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According to Gartner Peer Reviews, the vast majority of our customers would recommend Axiom software without reservation. These customers value our powerful forecasting capabilities, flexibility, ease of use and the ability to customise.

A single, unified platform makes it easy to manage related processes.

Simply put, Axiom was the only solution with higher education solutions and the experience needed to meet our requirements for a single solution for budgeting, forecasting and reporting” Julian Carter, Ex-Head of Financial Systems, University College London and now Head of Higher Education at Axiom EPM

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Experts in helping organisations improve financial performance

axiomepm.co.uk | +44 1932 548 465