Workday's Higher Education Momentum Accelerates as Over 650 Institutions Worldwide Turn to AI to Navigate Uncertainty and Transform the Student Experience

Over 85 Institutions Now Live on Workday Student, Supporting 3 Million Student Records Worldwide

PLEASANTON, Calif., Oct. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents, today announced significant global momentum in the higher education industry, with more than 650 institutions across 19 countries having selected Workday to drive their transformations. This milestone underscores the growing demand for Workday Human Capital Management (HCM), Workday Financial Management, and Workday Student, as institutions leverage these AI-powered solutions to support student and employee success.

The surge in new customers comes at a time of intense change for higher education institutions. Declining enrollment, rising costs, increased regulations, decreased funding, and rising student expectations are driving institutions to adopt AI to improve student outcomes, streamline operations, control costs, and sustain their missions. Workday helps institutions navigate these changes by combining HR, finance, and student data to offer a flexible and connected AI platform designed to support student progress, free staff to focus on strategic work, and align resources with institutional priorities.

Newly signed U.S. customers including Loyola University Chicago, Macalester College, and Swarthmore College, build on momentum Workday is seeing with Denison University, New York Institute of Technology, The College of William and Mary, and University of Wisconsin System, all of which went live in recent months.

Further adding to this momentum is Workday's growing global customer footprint with new wins such as Bow Valley College (Canada) and the University of York (England), and successful go-lives at the University of Melbourne (Australia), the University of Auckland (New Zealand), and the University of Hull (England). 

"Higher education is navigating rapid transformation, and our customers trust us to deliver the capabilities to support their future success," said Michael Hofherr, senior vice president and group general manager for industry, Workday. "From new customers to global go-lives, our focus remains on investments that equip the industry with modern tools to lead confidently into the future."

Leaders Are Building Future-Ready, AI-Powered Campuses

New Workday research reveals that 90% of higher education leaders aim to enhance the student experience to boost recruitment and retention. Additionally, 92% seek to streamline processes for faculty and staff, and 88% need a unified system to integrate academic, employee, and financial data for better decision-making. Workday answers that call through a range of innovations, all on one platform.

With Workday HCM, colleges and universities simplify HR processes so faculty and staff can easily manage tasks like time-off requests and payroll. Together with Workday Financial Management, leaders gain a unified, real-time view of people and financial data—empowering faster, more informed decisions.

Newly announced AI agents  – such as Academic Requirements Agent and Student Administration Agent – streamline time-consuming tasks like transcript processing and transfer credit evaluations, freeing up time and resources to support student success.

Through Workday Student, students receive AI-powered personalized guidance and real-time academic and financial information – all accessible via mobile device – to simplify their college journey and support career-readiness.

With Workday Data Cloud, customers will be able to unify their people, money, and student data with other institutional data, such as learning management systems and alumni management systems. This will help them improve student retention and success, optimize resource allocation, enhance research administration, and personalize the student experience. 

"Before Workday, multiple systems, fragmented data, and manual processes created a disjointed user experience and added significant administrative burden," said Lori Culp, associate chief information officer at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). "Workday has streamlined the user experience, automated critical workflows, and reduced administrative overhead—resulting in a more personalized, empowering employee experience and an increased ROI. We're already seeing a profound impact from Workday's AI capabilities and are committed to expanding their use to deliver even greater value to our people."

Workday Student's Continued Rise

Workday Student continues to gain momentum, with new customers including Center College, Drake University, Gannon University, and Minnesota State System. Through this solution, students experience a streamlined academic planning and registration process, with embedded communication tools that connect them to advisors and support staff.

With over 140 customers representing more than 190 institutions worldwide, Workday Student has also seen significant go-live momentum: over 20 institutions, including Washington University in St. Louis, Louisiana State University, and Dallas College, have gone live this year alone. This increases the total number of live customers to 85, supporting over 3 million student records since its launch in 2018. The solution also continues to expand globally, and is now available in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with planned availability in the U.K. and Ireland recently announced.

"Workday Student has transformed how students and staff experience critical moments like registration and financial aid," said Steven Fulkerson, chief information officer, University of Arkansas System. "This fall alone, more than 71,000 students successfully registered and over $279 million in aid was disbursed. In a time when higher education faces mounting challenges, agility has become essential—and our partnership with Workday has never been more significant."

Workday Receives Recognition from Industry Experts

Workday's growing customer base and proven leadership in higher education have earned recognition from industry experts. In March, Workday was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Higher Education Student Information System Software as a Service. Workday has also been named a leader in the IDC MarketScape: North America Higher Education SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Student Information Systems 2024 Vendor Assessment ¹, and the Tambellini Group StarChart^TM: 2025 Student Systems.

"Despite headwinds in higher education, Workday has continued to invest heavily in the sector and is maintaining market momentum," said Matt Leger, senior research manager, IDC Worldwide Education and EdTech Digital Strategies. "As colleges and universities experience significant change and external pressures, cloud-enabled and AI-powered platforms such as Workday will play an integral role in helping institutional leaders navigate uncertainty and remain future-ready."

For More Information

• Discover why Workday was named a Leader in 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Higher Education Student Information System Software as a Service.
• Learn more about higher education solutions, insights, trends and customer successes on the Workday Higher Education webpage.
• Read more about higher education news, trends, and insights on the Workday blog.
• Learn why Workday Student has been positioned as a Commander in the Tambellini StarChart™: 2025 Student Systems.

Gartner Disclaimer
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Higher Education Student Information System Software as a Service, by Robert Yanckello, Grace Farrell, 19 March 2025.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

About Workday
Workday  is the enterprise AI platform for managing people, money, and agents. Workday unifies HR and Finance on one intelligent platform with AI at the core to empower people at every level with the clarity, confidence, and insights they need to adapt quickly, make better decisions, and deliver outcomes that matter. Workday is used by more than 11,000 organizations around the world and across industries – from medium-sized businesses to more than 65% of the Fortune 500. For more information about Workday, visit workday.com.

© 2025 Workday, Inc. All rights reserved. Workday and the Workday logo are registered trademarks of Workday, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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SOURCE Workday Inc.