Ellucian Degree Works

Overview

Degree Works translates course and program data into audits that show how a student’s work applies to institutional requirements. Students and advisors can turn an audit into a managed plan, then adjust it when a major change or course withdrawal alters the path. What-if scenarios let students consider the effect of such choices on their completion timeline, making the system more useful than a static checklist where plans need to evolve.

Institutions can also build templated pathways for programs with a defined sequence of courses and labs. Reporting identifies course use toward requirements, students not following plans, missing courses, and aggregate needs for future term offerings. That gives advising and academic-planning teams information for both individual follow-up and course planning.

Key features

• Audits and planning: Audits become plans students and advisors can manage as circumstances change. This suits institutions that want advising workflows to connect requirements with next steps, though plans are manually administered.
• Transfer credit: Degree Works maps credits from other institutions against local requirements. The optional Transfer Equivalency component evaluates coursework and helps prospective transfer students understand which credits may be accepted, a useful addition for institutions with transfer pathways.
• Student workspace: Degree Progress and Academic Plan cards present progress and plans in a personalized Ellucian Experience workspace. This gives students a dedicated view of their work, within Ellucian’s workspace environment.
• Alerts and interventions: Early alerts can notify advisors when students fall behind completion requirements when Degree Works is used with Ellucian CRM Advise. Institutions seeking this alert workflow should account for that companion product.
• Integrations: Ellucian describes out-of-the-box ERP/SIS integrations through open APIs and extensibility tools, and says Degree Works can integrate with virtually any student information system. Banner Workflow integration supports plan approvals. This breadth can help institutions fit the system into existing processes, but the specific integration path should be checked against local systems.

Pricing

Degree Works has custom pricing; Ellucian’s 2024 pricing basis is full-time equivalent student enrollment, not the number of application users. That may suit institutions budgeting around enrollment rather than seat counts, but a quote is needed to assess cost and the pricing methodology is commercially confidential. No trial, renewal term, or free plan is stated. The optional Transfer Equivalency component is an additional component, so institutions should confirm its cost separately.

Platforms

Degree Works is described as SaaS-enabled and mobile-friendly, with mobile access and Android, iOS, web, API, and Linux platform support. Ellucian’s cloud services are ISO 27001:2022 certified; customers can request SOC 1, SOC 2 Type II, and SOC 3 reports. SaaS security is a shared responsibility, so moving to cloud service shifts more—but not all—security tasks to Ellucian.

An operational environment document specifies an Intel x86 Linux server and cautions that alternative hardware or substituted software may be unsupported. Because that document dates to March 16, 2020, institutions should confirm current environment requirements with Ellucian before settling on an architecture. Student Educational Planner implementation service includes a one-week on-site configuration visit and training on templates and end-user use.

Who it's for

Degree Works is aimed at higher-education institutions and the students, advisors, academic planners, and transfer staff working with institutional curriculum requirements. It is particularly appropriate where staff need to connect degree progress, transfer-credit decisions, and structured pathways. Institutions without Ellucian CRM Advise should not assume the automatic alert workflow is included.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Audits can feed into plans that change with a student’s circumstances, linking progress tracking to an actionable advising path.
• Pro: Transfer mapping, optional equivalency evaluation, and templated pathways address transfer and sequence-driven programs alongside standard degree requirements.
• Pro: Reporting spans student plan adherence, missing courses, and aggregate course-offering needs, supporting both advising and institutional planning.
• Con: Pricing is custom and enrollment-based, which makes direct cost comparison difficult without an institutional quote.
• Con: Automatic fall-behind alerts depend on use with Ellucian CRM Advise, adding a companion-product consideration for institutions that need this workflow.
• Con: The specified Linux server environment document is dated and warns against unsupported hardware or software substitutions, so infrastructure fit needs confirmation.

Alternatives

Academic Advising Software and Degree Audit Software are broader category comparisons. For a no-cost, self-hosted web option, consider FlightPath, which requires a MySQL database and PHP 7.4 or 8.x. Civitas Advising is another paid advising platform, with an annual subscription scaled to institution size and scope. Choose EAB Navigate360 if an enterprise license for all staff and students, without per-user or per-office fees, better fits the institution’s licensing preference. ConexED Retain is another paid option. Slate is worth considering for admissions and enrollment; its listed license for fewer than 1,500 annual submitted applications costs 30000.00 USD per year. Stellic and CoreCampus are other paid options; CoreCampus bases pricing on average annual FTE students. Ellucian Advising is another paid Ellucian product.

Verdict

Degree Works is a strong fit for institutions that need degree audits tied to adaptable academic plans, transfer-credit support, and reporting across advising and course planning. Its central advantage is turning curriculum progress into managed paths rather than leaving requirements as a checklist. Look elsewhere if transparent upfront pricing or a specified alert workflow without Ellucian CRM Advise is essential; confirm the operational environment and integration scope before committing.