1. What is school administration software?

School administration software provides a single repository for student, staff, and faculty data that can be accessed by school administrators, office managers, accountants, and registrars. With this data, you can automate your school's admissions, enrollment, and class scheduling. In addition, school administrator software can integrate with existing school accounting software to automate billing and manage tuition payments, as well as with classroom management and gradebook software.

2. The benefits of school administration software

Improved record keeping: The amount of paperwork required to keep a school operating can be staggering. School administration system software provides a central data repository for recording school attendance, inventory and assets, accounting information, and more. Administrators can then easily access this information via desktop and mobile apps.

The amount of paperwork required to keep a school operating can be staggering. School administration system software provides a central data repository for recording school attendance, inventory and assets, accounting information, and more. Administrators can then easily access this information via desktop and mobile apps. Ease of accounting: School administration software allows you to record matriculation, attendance, and tuition costs for individual students. Considering that many students pay tuition and fees using a variety of sources (scholarships, personal funds, grants, etc.), a central database that acts as a general ledger and automates student billing saves time and money associated with traditional accounting methods.

School administration software allows you to record matriculation, attendance, and tuition costs for individual students. Considering that many students pay tuition and fees using a variety of sources (scholarships, personal funds, grants, etc.), a central database that acts as a general ledger and automates student billing saves time and money associated with traditional accounting methods. Improved platform for parental involvement: Maintaining parental involvement is a cornerstone of any educational program. School administration system software allows parents to monitor and assess the progress of their children. Parents can readily contact (and even meet with) teachers, view grades and progress reports, and manage payments using portal tools.

3. Typical features of school administration software

Student information and records: Allows you to record all students' academic and behavioral information.

Allows you to record all students' academic and behavioral information. Attendance tracking: Tracks individual student attendance and the total number of attendees for a specific class.

Tracks individual student attendance and the total number of attendees for a specific class. Class scheduling: Facilitates scheduling for both in-person and online class meetings.

Facilitates scheduling for both in-person and online class meetings. Admissions management: Automates the registration and admission process for existing and new students.

Automates the registration and admission process for existing and new students. Parent/student portal: Allows students and parents to view material and communicate with teachers through an online gateway.

Allows students and parents to view material and communicate with teachers through an online gateway. Financial management: Provides a comprehensive overview of school finances.

Provides a comprehensive overview of school finances. Assessment management: Records and evaluates the learning progress of students.

The school administration software directory lets you filter by feature(s) to view only options that meet your business needs, which can help you narrow your software shortlist.

4. The cost of school administration software

Depending on the developer, school administration system software is priced in a variety of ways, including:

Per month:

$49 - $90

$91 - $274

$275+

Per user, per month:

$3+

Per user, per year:

$12+

*The pricing included in this list is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering found on vendor websites on December 17, 2018. Pricing estimates are based on the 20 most-reviewed products in Capterra's directory.

5. Considerations when purchasing school administration system software

Type of school: The school administration software market defines "school" in broad terms. Although many school management offerings address the needs of traditional K-12 environments, others are designed for schools that provide specific instructions or activities. For example, a school teaching one-on-one music instruction or a private daycare center would require a more flexible interface to adapt to the variable schedules of teachers and students.

The school administration software market defines "school" in broad terms. Although many school management offerings address the needs of traditional K-12 environments, others are designed for schools that provide specific instructions or activities. For example, a school teaching one-on-one music instruction or a private daycare center would require a more flexible interface to adapt to the variable schedules of teachers and students. Level of functionality/integration with existing software: School administration system developers offer a broad range of functionality, which can affect the overall price tag. Some offer accounting features that automate student billing and tuition, while others offer integration with classroom management or gradebook software for teachers. Depending on your particular needs, some of these features may not be necessary.

6. Relevant school administration software trends

The integration of wearable technology will improve attendance tracking: Teachers can spend anywhere from five to ten minutes taking attendance for a single class session. Considering recent innovations in wearable technology and its growing popularity, expect to see more schools using fobs or other devices to automate attendance in physical classrooms in the coming years.

Teachers can spend anywhere from five to ten minutes taking attendance for a single class session. Considering recent innovations in wearable technology and its growing popularity, expect to see more schools using fobs or other devices to automate attendance in physical classrooms in the coming years. Virtual classrooms and eLearning will put new demands on school administration: During the 2016 school year, approximately 5 million of the country's 54 million K-12 students took at least one online or virtual class. This number currently represents about ten percent of the student population, and is expected to rise. As schools seek ways to serve more students, the need to successfully manage students and classrooms (both physical and virtual) will grow.

Sources

The following sources were used for this document: