Case Study: Fayetteville State University improves financial aid efficiency and student experience with Ellucian

Fayetteville State University innovates with Ellucian technology to boost financial literacy and aid for students

Fayetteville State University (FSU), a public four-year HBCU in North Carolina, needed to modernize its financial aid operations, which still relied heavily on manual, pen-and-paper processes. The university wanted to reduce staff workload and make the experience less slow and daunting for students, so it turned to Ellucian’s Student Financial Success suite, including Campus Communicator and Student Forms.

Ellucian helped FSU create more transparent, interactive financial aid communications and streamline workflows for SAP appeals, document collection, and loan verification. With Campus Communicator, FSU redesigned award letters to include detailed cost breakdowns, videos, links, and deposit payment options, while Student Forms improved usability and automation for students and staff; the university reported fewer verification errors, tracked 499 SAP appeals in Fall 2024, and plans to fully migrate financial aid processes to Student Forms for 2025–26.

Fayetteville State University

Vincent Harris Jr.

Executive Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid