Blackbaud Makes a Strategic Investment in Student First to Bring Stronger Connected Campus Experience to Higher Education Institutions

Partnership Will Enable Higher Education Customers to Pair Student First’s Future-Ready Student Information System with Blackbaud’s Leading Financial Management and Fundraising Solutions to Unify Back-Office Operations and Power Student Success

Blackbaud, the world’s leading provider of AI-powered solutions for social impact, announced a strategic investment in Student First, the provider of the most modern, AI-enabled student information system (SIS) designed to simplify administrative workflows and enhance the student experience for higher education institutions.

With this investment, Blackbaud and Student First will deliver a best-in-class Connected Campus experience that reduces complexity and campus silos, unifying enrollment, financial aid, scholarships, advancement and finance into a single operating model. Blackbaud customers will be able to leverage Student First’s flexible, student-centric SIS, which will natively integrate with Blackbaud’s industry-leading solutions for financial management, fundraising, award management and payments to advance student success.

“By joining forces with Student First, we’re enabling college and university teams to connect the financial side of their operations to the student information side,” said Mark Davis, vice president, education products, Blackbaud. “This kind of data flow creates a connected campus experience that ties student lifecycle activity to the dollars that fund it—linking student and donor activity through advancement, awards, and the general ledger—so institutions can operate smarter, strengthen stewardship, and have the visibility needed to align resources to fuel student success.”

“Student First was developed as a unified, cloud-native SIS for higher education, and this partnership with Blackbaud is a natural extension of that platform strength,” said David Meek, CEO, Student First. “Together, we help institutions operate smarter in a challenging financial environment by strengthening stewardship, compliance, and long-term sustainability. Joint customers get a comprehensive technology suite built on industry-leading systems, and students get a single, seamless experience.”

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Key Benefits of the Partnership:

• Student First brings a modern, AI-enabled, student-centric SIS, while Blackbaud delivers leadership in purpose-built fund accounting, fundraising, award management, and payments and billing solutions.
• The partnership connects student enrollment, tuition and donor activity directly to the general ledger, giving institutions a single view that provides greater visibility, accountability and confidence in financial decision-making.
• Blackbaud’s Intelligence for Good® AI capabilities will bolster Student First’s student-centric SIS to drive intelligent action across institutions.
• Institutions gain choice without compromise—modernizing their SIS while leveraging Blackbaud’s trusted financial and advancement ecosystem.

The two companies will collaborate on product direction and go-to-market strategy to expand and enhance how they serve higher education institutions. This connected campus model replicates the success Blackbaud has already achieved with its Total School Solution approach for independent K–12 schools, offering a complete suite of integrated products purpose built for the unique needs of education institutions.

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