Case Study: Western Michigan University reduces financial aid processing time with Ellucian

How Western Michigan University's Financial Aid Office Went Virtual Overnight with Student Forms and Campus Communicator

Western Michigan University’s Financial Aid Office was struggling with a highly manual, paper-heavy process that created long processing times, student frustration, and heavy staff workload. The university turned to Ellucian, using Student Forms and Campus Communicator to modernize financial aid workflows and communications.

With Ellucian’s tools, WMU digitized document collection, automated student communications, and improved personalization across the financial aid cycle. The results were dramatic: verification processing dropped from 10 days to about half a day, call volume fell significantly, and staff were able to keep operations running efficiently even after going virtual during the pandemic.

Western Michigan University

Shashanta James

Director of Student Financial Aid