Enrollments provide a flexible way to track a student’s participation in a specific academic term, program, cohort, pathway, or experience. The person record stores information about the student overall. An enrollment record stores information connected to a particular academic context.
🏗️ Feature under development
Please note that Enrollments is under active development, with new features being rolled out over time. Check What’s New for release notes.
For Student Success, this distinction is especially important. A student continues as the same person over time, but their academic experiences can change by term, program, level, campus, modality, or participation type. Enrollments help institutions organize those experiences in a way that supports advising, reporting, outreach, workflows, checklists, materials, notes, communications, and other student success processes.
For example, an institution might use enrollments to track a student’s participation in:
Enrollment example | What it can represent |
|---|---|
Current term enrollment | A student’s active participation in a specific academic term |
Study abroad enrollment | A student’s participation in a study abroad program or term away |
Clinical placement enrollment | A student’s participation in a clinical, field, or practicum placement |
Internship enrollment | A student’s participation in a credit-bearing or required internship |
Graduation preparation enrollment | A student’s expected completion or graduation review term |
Cohort or bridge program enrollment | A student’s participation in a structured cohort, bridge, or special program |
Athletic or co-curricular enrollment | A student’s participation in a structured institutional experience outside the classroom |
A helpful way to think about enrollments is this:
The person record tells you who the student is.
The enrollment record helps you understand what academic experience, term, or program the student is participating in.
Why use enrollments?
Enrollments help institutions organize student information in context. Instead of storing every detail on the person record, institutions can connect term-specific or program-specific information to the enrollment where it belongs.
This can be especially useful when a student has multiple academic experiences over time. For example, a student may have a Fall 2026 enrollment, a Spring 2027 study abroad enrollment, a Summer 2027 internship enrollment, and a later graduation preparation enrollment. Each of those experiences can require different data points, forms, checklists, materials, notes, workflows, and reports.
Enrollments can help institutions:
Goal | How enrollments help |
|---|---|
Track term-specific information | Store data related to a particular academic term, program, or experience. |
Support advising and student success workflows | Route students through processes based on their current enrollment context. |
Organize student requirements | Connect checklists, materials, notes, and other records to the relevant enrollment. |
Improve reporting | Report on students by term, cohort, program, pathway, or participation type. |
Preserve historical context | Keep information from one term or experience separate from another. |
Support specialized programs | Track study abroad, clinical placements, internships, athletics, bridge programs, or other experiences. |
Coordinate work across offices | Give advising, registrar, student success, financial, and program staff a shared structure for tracking progress. |
When to use an enrollment
Enrollments are useful when the institution must track information tied to a specific academic context rather than the student overall.
A helpful planning question is: Does this information describe the student generally, or does it describe the student’s participation in a specific term, program, cohort, or experience?
If the information applies broadly to the student, it can belong on the person record. If the information applies to a specific academic term, program, cohort, or experience, it can belong on an enrollment record.
Appropriate enrollment examples
Enrollment-centered examples often include recurring, term-specific, or program-specific processes.
Example | Example |
|---|---|
Term-based student support | Track advising requirements, registration clearance, academic standing support, midterm outreach, or term-specific success planning. |
Study abroad | Track pre-departure requirements, abroad check-ins, course approvals, travel documents, and return requirements. |
Clinical or field placements | Track clearances, site assignments, required documents, supervisor information, and completion status. |
Internships | Track internship agreements, employer details, approvals, evaluations, and credit-bearing requirements. |
Cohort-based programs | Track bridge programs, honors cohorts, opportunity programs, first-year experience groups, or special academic pathways. |
Graduation preparation | Track degree completion milestones, graduation application items, final reviews, and outstanding requirements. |
Continuing student processes | Track recurring requirements that might must be completed each term or academic year. |
Athletics or co-curricular participation | Track structured participation, eligibility, requirements, or engagement milestones. |
Information that can belong on the person record instead
Not every student-related data point needs an enrollment. Some information belongs on the person record because it describes the student generally and is not tied to one term or experience.
Person-level information | Why it can belong on the person record |
|---|---|
Preferred name or pronouns | Applies broadly to the student across contexts. |
General contact information | Usually follows the student rather than a specific term. |
Long-term advisor assignment | May apply broadly unless advisor assignments change by term or program. |
General emergency contact | Often applies broadly, though some institutions may verify it each year. |
Ongoing accessibility or accommodation information | May relate to the student overall, depending on institutional policy and permissions. |
General residency or demographic information | Usually describes the student overall. |
Permanent record notes or identifiers | May must remain attached to the student rather than a specific enrollment. |
The goal is not to move every student data point to enrollments. The goal is to place information where it will be easiest to understand, maintain, report on, and use later.
Enrollment core components
Enrollments can serve as a central structure for many Student Success tools and workflows in Slate. The components below work together to create a more complete picture of the student’s current academic experience.
Enrollment dashboards
Enrollment Dashboards provide a customizable landing area for enrollment-specific information. They can be configured to display the data points, prompts, links, reports, or embedded content that staff need when reviewing a student’s enrollment record.
Dashboards are especially useful when different terms, programs, or student populations require different views of information. For example, a dashboard for a study abroad enrollment may highlight travel documents, course approvals, and pre-departure requirements, while a dashboard for a current-term enrollment may focus on academic standing, advising status, registration clearance, current courses, and support activity.
Enrollment Dashboards can help staff quickly answer questions such as:
Question | Example Dashboard Content |
|---|---|
What term or program is this enrollment connected to? | Term, program, campus, cohort, modality, or enrollment type |
What is the student’s current status? | Active, withdrawn, completed, paused, pending review, abroad, cleared, or at risk |
Are there outstanding checklist items? | Checklist summary, missing items, due dates, or completion percentage |
Has the student completed required forms or materials? | Recent materials, submitted forms, required documents, or missing uploads |
Are there recent notes or support activities? | Advising notes, interactions, alerts, outreach, or staff comments |
What actions should staff take next? | Buttons, forms, links, workflow bins, or next-step instructions |
Class schedules
Class schedule information can be connected to enrollments by using Course Catalog and Course Sections datasets. This helps institutions to represent what a student is taking in a particular term or academic context.
Class schedule data can support advising, student success outreach, reporting, and academic planning. For example, staff may want to know whether a student is enrolled in a high-risk course, carrying a heavy credit load, repeating a course, missing a required course, or taking a course connected to a particular support program.
Possible class schedule examples include:
Example | Example |
|---|---|
Display current courses | Show a student’s current course schedule on the Enrollment Dashboard. |
Identify students in specific sections | Find students enrolled in a particular course or section. |
Support faculty progress reporting | Allow faculty to submit progress, attendance, or concern reports for enrolled students. |
Connect students to tutoring | Identify students in courses with supplemental instruction or tutoring support. |
Monitor registration patterns | Review credit load, dropped courses, repeated courses, or missing requirements. |
Support advising conversations | Help advisors review current enrollment alongside the student’s plan. |
Materials
Materials are documents stored with a record. Enrollment-scoped materials are useful when a document should be tied to a specific term, program, or enrollment experience.
This is particularly helpful when the same type of document can be collected multiple times. For example, a student may submit a financial responsibility agreement each term, a course approval form for each study abroad experience, or a clinical clearance document for a specific placement.
Examples of enrollment-scoped materials include:
Material | Enrollment Context |
|---|---|
Financial Responsibility Agreement | Specific academic term |
Study Abroad Course Approval | Specific study abroad program or term |
Travel Itinerary | Specific study abroad experience |
Clinical Clearance | Specific clinical placement or semester |
Internship Agreement | Specific internship term |
Registration Clearance Document | Specific registration period |
Graduation Review Attachment | Specific expected completion term |
Enrollment-scoped materials show what was submitted and which term or experience the document belongs to.
Enrollment tabs
Enrollment Tabs allow institutions to create custom tabs displayed in the right-side navigation of the enrollment record. These tabs can be used to organize additional fields, embedded content, reports, forms, or instructions that do not must appear directly on the Enrollment Dashboard.
Enrollment Tabs are helpful when an office needs access to specialized information without overcrowding the main dashboard.
Examples of Enrollment Tabs might include:
Tab | Possible Contents |
|---|---|
Advising | Advising fields, notes, forms, academic plan, registration clearance |
Study Abroad | Program details, travel fields, course approvals, passport/visa status |
Clinical Placement | Site information, clearance status, supervisor details, required documents |
Graduation Review | Degree completion fields, review notes, outstanding requirements |
Academic Support | Success plan status, outreach history, tutoring referrals, alerts |
Financial | Term-based financial requirements, forms, account clearance status |
Engagement | Co-curricular participation, leadership roles, workshops, events |
Tabs can help keep the Enrollment Dashboard focused while still making related information easy to access.
Enrollment-scoped forms, fields, and prompt lists
Enrollment-scoped forms allow institutions to collect information in the context of a specific enrollment, term, program, cohort, or student experience. This is especially useful when the same student might must submit the same type of form more than once, but each submission should be tied to a different academic period or experience.
For example, a student might complete a financial responsibility agreement each term, submit a study abroad check-in while participating in a specific program, complete an internship agreement for a particular internship term, or acknowledge an academic success plan connected to the current semester. By using enrollment-scoped forms, institutions can keep each submission connected to the appropriate enrollment record, making it easier for staff to review, report on, and preserve the history of term-specific or experience-specific activity.
Fields and prompt lists help structure the data collected through these forms and displayed on enrollment records. Fields can store enrollment-specific values such as academic standing, registration clearance status, study abroad program, clinical placement site, internship employer, advisor review status, expected graduation term, or success plan status. Prompt lists can standardize the values available for those fields, helping staff report consistently and reducing variation in data entry.
For example, an enrollment-scoped field called Registration Clearance Status might use a prompt list with values such as Not Started, Pending Advisor Review, Cleared, Not Cleared, and Needs Follow-Up. A study abroad enrollment might use prompt lists for Program Status, Travel Document Status, or Course Approval Status. A clinical placement enrollment might use prompt lists for Clearance Status, Site Assignment Status, or Supervisor Type.
Together, enrollment-scoped forms, fields, and prompt lists allow institutions to collect structured information, guide staff and student actions, support reporting, and keep term-specific or program-specific data connected to the correct enrollment.
Example enrollment models
The way an institution uses enrollments will depend on its goals and data structure. The examples below show how enrollments might support different Student Success scenarios.
Current term enrollment
A student has an enrollment for the Fall 2026 term. The enrollment record includes term-specific data such as academic standing, advisor assignment, credit load, registration clearance status, outstanding checklist items, current courses, and support activity.
This model is useful when staff need a term-by-term view of student progress and support.
Study abroad enrollment
A student has an enrollment for a Spring 2027 study abroad program. The enrollment record includes program details, course approvals, passport and visa documentation, pre-departure checklist items, travel itinerary, abroad check-ins, and post-program transcript receipt.
This model is useful when the student’s experience has a clear beginning, middle, and end, with requirements that should be tracked separately from the student’s regular academic term.
Clinical placement enrollment
A student has an enrollment connected to a clinical placement. The enrollment record includes site assignment, supervisor information, clearance documents, compliance requirements, placement notes, and completion status.
This model is useful for programs where students move through structured external placements that require documentation and oversight.
Internship enrollment
A student has an enrollment connected to an internship experience. The enrollment record includes employer information, internship term, supervisor contact, agreement materials, approval status, required evaluations, and completion status.
This model is useful when internship participation must be reviewed, approved, documented, and reported on by term.
Graduation preparation enrollment
A student has an enrollment connected to an expected graduation term. The enrollment record includes graduation application status, degree audit review, outstanding requirements, final clearance, related materials, and graduation communications.
This model is useful when institutions want to manage the graduation review process as a structured workflow.
Cohort or bridge program enrollment
A student has an enrollment connected to a cohort-based experience such as a summer bridge program, honors cohort, opportunity program, first-year experience, or student success initiative.
The enrollment record may include cohort assignment, participation requirements, program milestones, attendance, support notes, checklist items, and completion status.
This model is useful when students participate in structured programs that must be tracked alongside, but separately from, their general student record.
Planning your enrollment structure
Before creating or expanding enrollments, institutions should consider how enrollments will be used, who will maintain them, and what information should be stored on the enrollment record.
Planning questions
Question | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
What student experiences must be tracked separately from the person record? | Helps determine where enrollments add value. |
Are those experiences term-based, program-based, cohort-based, or event-based? | Helps define the enrollment model. |
What data should be stored directly on the enrollment? | Helps avoid overcrowding the person record. |
What information belongs on the person record instead? | Keeps general student information in the appropriate place. |
Which offices must view or update enrollment information? | Helps define permissions, tabs, dashboards, and training needs. |
What checklist items, materials, notes, or workflows should be tied to the enrollment? | Helps connect related tools to the right academic context. |
Should students be able to view or complete parts of the enrollment process through a portal? | Helps determine student-facing design and access. |
What reports or dashboards will staff need? | Helps design data points and exports from the beginning. |
What historical information should be preserved after the term or experience ends? | Helps support long-term reporting and record review. |
What permissions are needed for sensitive information? | Helps protect financial, health, conduct, accessibility, or other sensitive data. |
Naming conventions
Consistent naming makes enrollment records easier to understand, search, report on, and maintain.
Consider naming conventions for:
Item | Example |
|---|---|
Enrollment type | Current Term, Study Abroad, Clinical Placement, Internship, Graduation Review |
Term | Fall 2026, Spring 2027, Summer 2027 |
Cohort | First-Year Cohort 2026, Honors Cohort 2027, Bridge Program 2026 |
Program | Nursing Clinical, Spain Study Abroad, MBA Internship |
Status | Active, Pending, Complete, Withdrawn, Cancelled, Needs Review |
Dashboard labels | Current Term Overview, Study Abroad Overview, Clinical Placement Review |
A consistent naming approach helps staff quickly identify the purpose of an enrollment and reduces confusion when a student has multiple enrollment records.
Terms and cohorts
Institutions should decide whether enrollments will be created by term, cohort, program, or another structure.
For example:
Structure | Example |
|---|---|
Term-based | One enrollment for each academic term |
Program-based | One enrollment for each special program or academic pathway |
Cohort-based | One enrollment for each cohort experience |
Experience-based | One enrollment for study abroad, internship, clinical placement, or graduation review |
Hybrid | A combination of term-based and program-specific enrollments |
The right structure depends on the institution’s reporting needs, business processes, and how staff expect to interact with enrollment records.
Data ownership
Because enrollments can support multiple offices, institutions should define who owns each part of the enrollment process.
Examples:
Office | Possible responsibilities |
|---|---|
Advising | Advising status, academic plan, registration clearance, notes |
Student Success | Academic support workflows, success plans, outreach, alerts |
Registrar | Course information, degree progress, graduation review, transfer or study abroad credit |
Financial Services | Financial responsibility forms, account clearance, term-based holds |
Study Abroad | Program details, travel requirements, course approvals, pre-departure process |
Academic Programs | Clinical placements, internships, program milestones, faculty review |
Athletics or Engagement | Participation, eligibility, activities, or co-curricular requirements |
Clear ownership helps prevent duplicated work, unclear responsibilities, and inconsistent data entry.
Permissions
Permissions should be considered early, especially when enrollment records include sensitive information.
Some information might must be limited to specific offices or staff roles, such as:
financial information
health or compliance documentation
accessibility-related information
conduct-related information
academic standing support details
private advising notes
program-specific review notes
Institutions should decide who can view, edit, upload, review, and report on enrollment-related information before launching new enrollment processes.
Reporting needs
Enrollment structures should be designed with reporting in mind. Consider what questions staff and leadership will must answer.
Examples include:
Reporting question | Possible data needed |
|---|---|
Which students are active in a given term or program? | Enrollment type, term, status, program |
Which students still have outstanding requirements? | Checklist status, due dates, missing items |
Which students need advising before registration? | Advising status, registration clearance, advisor |
Which students are participating in study abroad? | Program, term, location, status, travel requirements |
Which students are in a clinical placement? | Site, supervisor, clearance status, completion status |
Which students are nearing graduation but missing requirements? | Graduation term, degree audit status, outstanding items |
Which students have received outreach or support? | Notes, interactions, workflow status, success plan status |
Planning reports early can help institutions avoid missing fields, inconsistent values, or unclear data structures later.
Next steps
After planning the enrollment structure, institutions can begin building and testing the related components.
Recommended next steps include:
Define the enrollment example.
Determine whether the enrollment should be term-based, program-based, cohort-based, experience-based, or a hybrid model.
Identify the data points that belong on the enrollment.
Identify what information should remain on the person record.
Create or configure the enrollment records.
Configure Enrollment Dashboards.
Add Enrollment Tabs and related fields.
Connect checklists, materials, and related records.
Build reports and dashboard views for staff.
Test with sample students across different scenarios.
Review permissions and access.
Train staff on when and how to use enrollment records.
Continue refining the structure as processes mature.
💡 Tip
Enrollments are most successful when they are designed around clear institutional processes. Start with a focused example, test it with real examples, and expand once staff understand how enrollment records can support their work.