Ellucian Journey Ignites a New Era in Higher Ed: AI-Powered Learning That Leads to Real Careers

Institutions nationwide adopt breakthrough platform that maps education to  workforce needs — transforming lifelong learning into career success

RESTON, Va., Oct. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ellucian, the leading higher education technology solutions provider, today announced strong early adoption of its award-winning new solution, Ellucian Journey, an AI-powered lifelong learning platform. Journey supports over 100 institutions in their continuing education programs, with 20 currently in active implementation. Debuted at Ellucian Live 2025, the solution connects continuing education curriculum to careers by mapping the skills institutions teach to the skills employers are looking for in their workforce.

As AI rapidly reshapes industries and job requirements, institutions face mounting pressure to deliver learning that adapts as quickly as the workforce evolves, while also addressing growing concerns about the value of a degree and the need for clearer connections between education and employment. Journey enables institutions to meet this demand, stay ahead, and elevate the relevance and impact of their academic offerings.

"Journey unifies learners, institutions, and employers by connecting the skills institutions teach to what employers actually need, and charting clear, AI‑guided pathways, that elevate student employability and career outcomes," said Laura Ipsen, President and CEO, Ellucian. "With Journey, institutions can power growth by identifying curriculum gaps, and enable skill-based learning that expands reach, boost enrollment, and align education to the future of work."

Connecting insights from Ellucian to data sourced from the most trusted skills and occupation taxonomies across higher education, Journey maps learner competencies to industry-recognized standards, delivering real-world value to students and institutions. Leveraging AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), Journey powers skill progression tracking and personalized course and career recommendations — giving learners a clear, intuitive, skills-focused experience to optimize learning pathways and achieve professional milestones. 

Katie Cloud, University Registrar at The George Washington University, a development partner for the solution, commented on its capability: "Journey brings the opportunity for students to visualize the potential in the value of their education and map it directly to job opportunities - helping them stay engaged, excited and day-one ready."

Key features of Journey include: 

• AI-Driven Recommendations: Personalized course suggestions aligned with current job market demands and labor market intelligence. 
• Comprehensive Skills Mapping: Integration of student and alumni profiles with career data to provide actionable insights. 
• Gamified Learning: Progress tracking and skill-building designed to engage and motivate learners. 
• Unmatched Data and System Integration: Integration with Ellucian's extensive SIS and ERP ecosystem to ensure cohesive functionality across existing finance, reporting, and student data management systems. 
• Smart Skills Ontology at Scale: Automated construction of a skills ontology from curriculum data, replacing traditional manual mapping and accelerating institutional agility. 
• Expanded Institutional Resiliency: Tools for institutions to leverage existing content to broaden their reach to lifelong learners, fostering sustainable growth and adaptability. 

"Journey was designed to seamlessly integrate with institutional systems, delivering scalable, AI-powered insights," said Mike Wulff, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Ellucian. "From automated skills mapping to personalized course and career recommendations, Journey empowers colleges and universities to leverage the data they already have in new, powerful ways — transforming how they guide students toward lifelong success." 

Journey has been recognized in multiple industry award programs: 

• Finalist in the Professional Skills (Workforce, Upskilling) Solution category of the EdTech Awards.
• Winner in the higher education category of the Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence: Back to School.
• Finalist in the Most Innovative AI Technology category of the AI Awards. 

To learn more about Journey, visit: https://www.ellucian.com/products/ellucian-journey  

ABOUT ELLUCIAN 

Ellucian powers innovation for higher education, partnering with more than 2,800 customers across 50 countries, serving over 20 million students. Ellucian's AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for students, faculty and staff. Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, including data-rich tools for student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement. Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners and user community of more than 45,000 provides best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes. 

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SOURCE Ellucian