Where Higher Education Finance Stands Today
If you work in higher education, you know the pressures well. Declining enrollments, constrained budgets, and increasing compliance demands have reshaped the financial landscape.
When I sat down with Zach Tussing, Director of Partnerships at Ellucian, for a previous episode of our Emburse Beyond Spend podcast, we talked about how finance teams are rethinking everything: from how they manage travel and expenses to how they forecast spend and allocate resources.
Zach said something that resonated deeply with me:
“Institutions are rethinking the way they operate—moving from manual processes to more effective, insight-driven automation that changes the way the business runs.”
That shift isn’t just about adopting new tools, but also about evolving the finance mindset from transactional to strategic.
Automation is the Launchpad
In higher ed, automation used to mean digitizing existing workflows: replacing paper receipts with online forms, or spreadsheets with cloud systems. But that’s only the beginning.
At Emburse, we’re seeing institutions go further when they connect travel, expense, and AP data into one intelligent motion. When finance leaders gain that unified visibility, they unlock what I call institutional agility: the ability to see what’s happening in real-time and pivot quickly when conditions change.
It’s what Emburse Expense Intelligence was built for: to help institutions automate and anticipate.
From Reporting to Forecasting: Using AI to Lead with Foresight
Zach and I discussed how AI is shifting financial operations from reactive to predictive. Universities that once relied on post-fact reporting can now see patterns emerging in real time—everything from travel trends to departmental overspend.
“With the data Ellucian and Emburse collect,” Zach explained, “we can forecast what future programs might look like—not just capital expenditure, but operational expenditure too.”
That kind of insight changes the game for CFOs and Controllers. With AI-driven forecasting, they can plan budgets around academic calendars, align spending with enrollment cycles, and ensure funds are being directed where they matter most, such as student success and institutional resilience.
This is the power of connecting Emburse and Ellucian—where financial data becomes a living, learning asset that supports smarter, more proactive decisions.
Where Integration Meets Impact
Every conversation I have with finance leaders comes back to one theme: time.
The hours lost to reconciliation, approval cycles, or manual audits are hours not spent on strategy.
That’s why I love the success factors:
- The University of New Mexico saved over 35,000 hours a year and sped up reimbursements by 75% after modernizing its travel and expense workflows.
- The University of Illinois has automated compliance reporting, improving data accuracy and consistency across departments.
And through deeper Emburse–Ellucian integration, another institution reduced manual auditing by 75% and cut audit time in half.
These results translate into better governance, happier staff, and more time for finance teams to focus on the work that drives institutional mission.
AI and Human Intelligence—Better Together
We also talked about what’s next for AI in higher ed. Namely, that the technology is advancing quickly, but it must be implemented with care.
“AI is great,” Zach said, “but we want to pair it with human intelligence to make sure we’re truly supporting institutions’ goals.”
I couldn’t agree more. At Emburse, we’re focused on responsible AI with guardrails. Our systems use real-time analysis to detect anomalies and prevent fraud before it reaches finance. But we never replace the role of human judgment. Instead, we empower it with accurate data, intelligent workflows, and actionable insights.
That’s the future we’re building toward: one where AI, automation, and human insight work hand-in-hand to help colleges and universities thrive.
Leading with Intelligence in Higher Education
The challenges facing higher ed finance aren’t going away, but neither is the opportunity to reimagine how institutions operate.
When finance leaders unify their systems and use AI-powered insights to guide spend before it happens, they don’t just control costs—they shape the future.
At Emburse, that’s what Emburse Expense Intelligence is all about. It’s not just a platform; it’s the infrastructure for smarter, more connected decision-making across higher education.
And as I often say: when you manage the money, you manage the future.