Strategic Spend Assessments for Higher Education and Public Sector Procurement
Addressable spend in a mid-sized university might add up to between $75 and $150 million annually. Imagine if you could shave 5% or 10% off the total in annual spend. The challenges in higher education finance are real. Many academic institutions have already entered the doom loop, becoming at-risk for not maintaining financial commitments due […]
What Is AP Automation Software and Why Do Universities Need It?
Higher education institutions operate complex financial systems. A single school may process thousands of invoices each month from hundreds of different suppliers, and they come in different forms. Some are electronic, but many are still mailed, emailed, or sent as PDFs, often requiring manual data entry, routing, and approvals. If you’re still handling this manually, […]
What Is a P-card Program and How Does It Work in Higher Education?
The sheer volume of purchases made by colleges and universities each year is amazing. It’s not unusual for academic institutions to process tens of thousands of transactions across thousands of vendors. Collectively, it adds up to more than $700 billion in spending. Many of these purchases are small and often decentralized. Regardless, they still require […]
How Virtual Card Payments Reduce Fraud and Generate Rebates for Universities
Because of the volume and complexity of transactions made by higher education institutions, colleges and universities have become attractive targets for fraud. As cybercriminals grow more sophisticated, universities face a new wave of cyber-attacks that are harder to detect and more damaging than ever before. Virtual card programs can strengthen your payment fraud prevention and […]
AP Automation and Commercial Card Solutions for Higher Education
For decades, procurement and finance offices were viewed as a necessary cost center, a place where paper invoices and manual entries created a perpetual administrative bottleneck. No more. As institutions face tighter margins and increasing demands for transparency, higher education procurement is undergoing a digital upgrade. By integrating accounts payable automation, procure-to-pay software, and purchasing […]
Building an Enterprise Procurement Tech Stack That Delivers Savings
Procurement teams in higher education are investing heavily in digital tools designed to improve purchasing efficiency and transparency. Yet, many organizations still struggle to make these investments pay off. The challenge often isn’t with the technology, but how it’s integrated in your procurement tech stack and how it’s used. A modern procurement tech stack should […]
Strategic Purchasing Explained: Moving Beyond Transactional Procurement
Most higher education institutions have made meaningful progress in developing a formal procurement strategy. Cooperative contracts are in place, sourcing events are documented, and category plans exist for major spend areas. Yet many procurement leaders still struggle to translate those efforts into consistent results. Even with the best intentions, there’s often a disconnect in purchasing […]
Developing Effective Procurement Strategies for Higher Education Institutions
A procurement strategy in higher education sets the direction for how sourcing, purchasing, and supplier management decisions are made over time. It creates the framework and guardrails to make sure purchasing supports institutional goals, solid financial stewardship, and public accountability. Procurement Strategies That Scale Across Institutions Effective procurement strategies are built on a small set […]
Strategic Procurement Framework: Models for Educational Institution Success
“To tackle considerable financial headwinds, institutions need to align their financial resources more tightly with their institutional priorities, fostering greater accountability and ensuring that budgeting decisions support long-term goals and values.” — Deloitte’s 2025 Higher Education Trends This was true in 2025, and it remains accurate in 2026. Colleges and universities need to move beyond […]
The Complete Guide to Strategic Procurement: Solutions and Best Practices for Educational Institutions
Procurement typically happens quietly, behind the scenes, but the effectiveness of the process directly affects campus operations and your ability to serve your students and faculty. Unfortunately, many campuses use outdated processes or have procurement teams that are short-staffed or overloaded with work, leaving little time for a more strategic procurement process. “The impact of […]