Some students have perfect attendance while others are always ready with the perfect excuse! Every learning journey is different and can benefit from the personalization Salesforce brings. Recruitment, admissions, alumni engagement, and any institutional process can be enhanced with the #1 AI CRM.
In this article, we check out how Salesforce can streamline higher education. Read on to score an A+ on this hot topic.
Salesforce Education Cloud Explained
Salesforce built the EDA (Education Data Architecture) in collaboration with higher education institutions and other stakeholders in the field. This custom data model contains pre-built objects and automations specifically designed for education. Initially, HEDA (Higher Education Pack) ran off the EDA before being replaced by Education Cloud in 2023.
Education Cloud, one of Salesforce’s industry clouds, is a solution tailor-made to enhance higher ed. It enables personalization of the learning journey and gives institutions a 360-degree view of students. Educators and staff can access enrollment information, academic details, and student preferences within their CRM without getting bogged down by paperwork.
Post-Dreamforce 2023, Salesforce rolled out a host of AI innovations, namely the Einstein 1 platform, which has sent a ripple through all industry clouds. Education Cloud has been transformed into the leading AI CRM for learners and institutions. For example, in May 2024, Salesforce announced forthcoming AI features targeted at higher education.
Highlights for student success:
- Intelligent Degree Planning helps students and their advisors create bespoke roadmaps for degrees.
- Skills Generator leverages AI to identify the market-relevant skills students will gain from a particular course.
- Einstein Mentorship Summaries will pair mentees with the mentor best matched to suit their needs.
Highlights for staff and faculty:
- Data Cloud for Education will give staff the most complete view of every student by unlocking siloed data. This data can be used to automate tedious manual tasks such as managing enrollment.
- Einstein Copilot Recruitment & Admissions Actions helps staff quickly and efficiently answer questions from potential students using Gen AI.
At Dreamforce 2024, these AI offerings and many more were expanded upon.
Higher Education Highlights from Dreamforce 2024
Dreamforce 2024 was all about Agentforce, and the education keynote synced with this overarching theme. While the conversations around AI in education used to be all about the threat of artificial intelligence being used for plagiarism, these days it has shifted to how AI can make institutions more productive.
Salesforce has long used predictive AI, and recently Gen AI, but at Dreamforce 2024 the education keynote explained how autonomous AI can transform the education sector for the better. With Agentforce tech, agents are not just assistants but partners who can recommend actions and take action on behalf of higher education leaders and staff.
During the keynote, Margo Martinez, VP and GM of Education at Salesforce, unveiled Data Cloud for Education to bring together siloed data across the entire experience. Data Cloud will lay the groundwork for AI to be used in higher education institutions. Then, once artificial intelligence is embedded in trusted data, it can operate at its best.
Marc Benioff has said he’s “never been more excited about anything” than Agentforce and autonomous AI is set to revolutionize the student 360. At Dreamforce, plans to launch student service agents, financial aid agents, and many more education-specific agents were announced. These agents will work alongside humans to push higher education institutions to new heights.
According to the Education Keynote at Dreamforce ‘24, the key release for Education Cloud next year will be:
- Service Agent for Recruitment and Admissions (Winter ‘25)
- Recruitment Inquiry & Opportunity Management (Winter ‘25)
- Next-generation Student Information System Capabilities: New Course Registration capabilities as well as Holds and Blocks (‘Summer ‘25).
- Mentoring Summaries, Donor Briefs, and Alumni Engagement Insights (Winter ‘25).
More will be revealed at the Education Summit, Salesforce’s biggest education conference in March 2025. Over the next year, it will be fascinating to see how AI for education, grounded in Data Cloud, can provide ever greater personalization for higher education students while helping institutions streamline their practices. According to a statistic in the Education Keynote, 93% of education leaders are excited by what AI will bring, and for institutions to truly transform, they need the responsible and trusted approach Salesforce brings.
Salesforce Higher Education: Alternatives to Education Cloud
While Education Cloud is a solid investment, there might be cases where you need a third-party tool to help you out. Several great ISVs on Salesforce’s AppExchange can help speed up time to market and reduce the complexity of implementation.
Solving a Use Case With an ISV: Application Processes
A college was battling with slow and tedious application processes. The challenges seemed insurmountable and drained the energy of staff and students. Some of the most painful aspects included filling in physical application forms and manually entering data into Salesforce.
The organization first looked into developing custom Salesforce processes but the time, cost, and maintenance of development were a no-go. After researching solutions on the AppExchange, they approached Titan.
With Titan’s solution…
- Students can now sign up for programs using an online form fully integrated with Salesforce.
- This form is embedded in an education portal built using only drag-and-drop tools.
- Students can log in to the portal and view the status of applications via an intuitive dashboard.
- All relevant details such as work experience, references, and education history can be kept up to date via this portal.
- Titan provides an easy-to-use file upload capability for all supporting documents.
- Students can also manage all personal information and payment can be made securely online via integration with Stripe.
- The college has an end-to-end solution for its applications. All information is synced to Salesforce in real time.
Check out all the details on this education portal which can either extend Education Cloud or act as a convenient alternative. To take a look at Titan for yourself, visit the AppExchange.
Summary: Class Dismissed!
It will be fascinating to see whether Salesforce AI for higher education can deliver on some of its early promises, and only the coming months will tell us what role Agentforce has to play. Watch this space!