Gorgev // Shutterstock
Why higher education needs digital infrastructure now
Higher education has entered an era of intensifying competition for each student. While the widely discussed “demographic cliff” — or “enrollment cliff” — may not peak for several years, the window to act continues to narrow. The population of traditional college-age freshmen will diminish in waves. After a brief uptick early next decade, projections by higher education consulting firm Ruffalo Noel Levitz show that by 2039, there could be roughly 650,000 fewer 18‑year‑olds per year than today. As Georgetown’s Jeff Strohl explains, a loss of “a few hundred thousand per year” compounded over a decade creates significant economic and institutional impacts.
TouchNet looks at what institutions can do to future‑proof operations, improve student satisfaction and protect revenue. One of the most effective and often overlooked strategies is modernizing the digital experience where students feel the most friction: financial processes and campus transactions.
What modern campus payments technology looks like
When students describe a good digital experience, they consistently ask for solutions that are instant, accessible and reliable. They expect to engage through web, text, chat or phone without stepping into an office. When systems time out during peak payment windows or when students must cross campus to fix a basic billing issue, institutions create avoidable frustration and risk.
Recent research on student financial experience highlights what’s at stake. Large shares of students in the U.S., the U.K., Australia and Canada surveyed by TouchNet in 2025 report that managing tuition, refunds, holds and account tasks requires moderate to very high effort. That effort pulls time and attention away from academics and well‑being. Administrative friction directly threatens student persistence or retention.
An online account center can bring electronic billing, consent management, real‑time balances and activity, statements, deposits and scheduled payments into one secure environment that posts in real time to your enterprise resource planning (ERP). One centralized hub with clear permissions, role‑based access and end‑to‑end visibility gives staff and students full transparency. This foundation removes bottlenecks, reduces calls and walk‑ins and improves payment visibility through real-time account updates.
When you invest in improving your student payment experience, your business office also benefits. Student account centers help you:
- Reduce cost‑to‑serve. Fewer in‑person visits and manual interventions lower staffing load during peak cycles.
- Accelerate receivables. Real‑time posting reduces reconciliation delays and strengthens cash forecasting.
- Lower risk. Centralized consent and secure payment profiles strengthen compliance and reduce risk and PCI exposure.
Build a mobile‑first infrastructure students will actually use
Students already live their financial lives on their phones. They use mobile devices to pay for food, entertainment or recurring bills. Paying by phone is the new normal. Recent student financial experience data from the TouchNet survey shows 67% of students prefer using mobile phones to manage personal financial information. Roughly half already use digital student IDs. Many rely on mobile payments for everyday purchases and recurring bills. They expect payment reminders, easy refunds, instant notifications and autopay to come standard.
How a mobile ID transforms the campus journey
A mobile ID does more than replace a plastic card. It serves as a secure, unified key to both physical and digital campus experiences.
- Access and attendance. Tap-to-enter buildings, labs, residence halls, class and event check‑ins. Institutions eliminate lost cards and reprints.
- Payments. Tap‑to‑pay for dining, printing, parking, recreation and ticketing using declining balance, stored value or payment profiles.
- Services and support. Scan to authenticate at service counters, unlock self‑service kiosks and trigger context‑aware help, with guiding phrases like, “You have a refund pending — choose deposit method.”
- Security and risk. Control credentials in real-time, enable freeze and unfreeze functionality, require step‑up authentication for sensitive actions and apply geofenced permissions for critical spaces.
Faculty and staff benefit as well. Mobile IDs reduce badge management overhead, improve reporting and space utilization, streamline secure printing and equipment checkout and simplify after‑hours access. When integrated with ERPs, credentials can auto‑provision by role, reducing manual work orders and ticketing volume.
Modernizing the administrative side: simplify the real workload students carry
Students manage a complex mix of financial responsibilities. They track grant and scholarship timelines, apply for institutional aid, coordinate family contributions and manage income from employment. After securing funds, they must align payment schedules with disbursements and pay periods to avoid penalties or holds.
The TouchNet survey found more than 90% of U.S. students rely on multiple funding sources to finance their education and that reliance continues to shift. Institutional financial aid usage alone increased from 45% to 57% year over year. The bottom line? Students carry a workload that extends beyond the classroom.
When financial ecosystems force students to navigate multiple portals, manual forms and visit offices for routine actions — like setting up a payment plan, adding an authorized payer or selecting a refund method — institutions increase cognitive load and risk. Students consistently report that financial management tasks demand substantial effort and often distract from academics, reinforcing the link between administrative burden and overall well‑being.
The power of centralization — one platform, many wins
Students say modernizing tuition, financial aid systems and course registration would most improve campus life. Meet that expectation by consolidating your tech stack. Fewer systems increase efficiency and give students and staff clearer visibility.
Centralization delivers immediate benefits. With one login for billing, payment plans and refunds, students manage their finances in one place and resolve issues independently. Real-time balance updates keep them informed, while itemized activity reduces anxiety and errors. When major financial deadlines approach, timely notifications and reminders help prevent missed payments and downstream holds.
Strengthen institutional operations with a consolidated payments ecosystem that bursars, business offices, financial aid departments and IT departments can use.
- Fewer tickets and walk‑ins: Cut routing questions and manual requests with clear workflows and self‑service tools.
- Cleaner data and faster close: Minimize reconciliation issues with real-time ERP posting and sharpen forecasting.
- Limit failure points: Simplify monitoring and security with one platform with defined uptime SLAs.
- Policy agility: Central configuration for fees, payment windows, and holds accelerates response to any regulatory or market changes.
Digital experience isn’t part of the student experience — it is the student experience
Leaders continue to warn about the enrollment cliff: Fewer traditional‑age students will enter colleges, and the ripple effects on local economies and institutional viability are already emerging. But the response doesn’t have to be reactive cuts. Institutions can make smart digital investments that target the friction points students feel most.
The pandemic proved how quickly conditions can change. Institutions that adapted digital tools quickly did more than maintain continuity — they discovered durable efficiencies and improved student satisfaction. As the student pipeline tightens, that lesson becomes a strategy. Going digital, especially in payments, student IDs and student account management, strengthens operations and reduces risk.
Institutions that recognize that digital experience defines the student experience position themselves to outperform competitors and exceed expectations.
This story was produced by TouchNet and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
