Populi

What Is Populi Best For? 

Populi's Aid feature helps avoid onboarding any third-party service provider for federal financial aid processing in institutions by directly connecting to the SAIG mailbox, DoED, and COD. It is used by smaller colleges and seminaries that have only one financial aid officer, who has to import the FAFSA forms, disburse the awards, and has no time to deal with a disjointed and cumbersome process. With this feature, the aid officer can automatically import ISIRs, mark any at-risk students with the SAP tracking feature, and disburse aid in a batch without chasing paperwork, saving a week of manual effort. 

How Much Does Populi Cost? 

Populi pricing starts at $199/month as a flat base fee, plus $9/month/billable student, covering the entire platform under a single plan.

Besides the base subscription, users should also consider the following potential expenses:

• Extra File Storage: Beyond the included 2,000 GB/month, additional storage costs 10¢/GB/month 
• Extra Data Transfer: Beyond the included 200 GB/month, additional transfer costs 15¢/GB/month 
• Extra Email Volume: Beyond the included 50,000 emails/month, additional emails cost 0.05¢/recipient 
• Extra Text Messaging: Beyond the included 5,000 texts/month, additional texts cost 2¢/recipient, and extra toll-free texting numbers cost $1/month each
• Third-Party Integrations: Optional add-ons like payment processors or plagiarism-detection tools may charge their own separate fees outside of Populi's pricing

Reviewers generally see Populi as fairly priced, especially for smaller institutions working with tight budgets. Several mention reasonable costs relative to the features offered. Some also point out that implementation costs are minimal, which helps offset the overall investment.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change. 

Populi Integrations

This platform has integration arrangements with the following apps: 

• Google Sheets software
• Google Docs
• BigBlueButton
• YouTube
• Turnitin software
• Zoom

We have compiled a list of scenarios, based on user feedback and our analysis of Populi features and capabilities, where this platform is a good match for specific operational buyers: 

Colleges Moving Away From Legacy Student Information Systems 

Institutional knowledge is often lost, and many times there is an outdated student information system, or processes are managed using a variety of workarounds. Populi integrates all of your systems into one for admissions, academics, financial aid, and student records. This helps staff to maintain continuity and modernize processes without having to start from scratch. 

Growing Institutions Managing Rapid Enrollment Expansion 

A steady increase in student enrollment puts pressure on every department and admin staff, including registrars, finance, academic services, and more. With Populi, institutions can have one system that manages student records, reporting, billing, and classroom functions. New programs and campuses are added without any added administrative burden, and administrators are able to see them. 

Small Colleges Replacing Multiple Disconnected Administrative Tools 

Many small colleges are initially built on spreadsheets, paper forms, and individual applications, and over time, employees' work hours are wasted on different systems, and the danger of data inconsistencies increases. Populi syncs all of the registration, grading, communication, and student record-keeping processes into one system, which allows small administrative teams to focus less on software management and more on student support.

Institutions Delivering Both On-Campus And Online Programs 

When students are on different systems, it's much more complicated to manage students between in-person and online learning. Regardless of course delivery type, Populi allows faculty and students to utilize the same course system to have a more uniform and academic experience. Administrators also value the aspect that all attendance, coursework, communication, and academic records are centralized, instead of being in different applications.

Universities That Need To Improve Their Admissions And Executive Reporting 

Enrollment teams collect thousands of prospective student records every year, but it's the real work of what to do with all that information that's tricky. Populi tracks and reports structured admissions, allowing users to analyze lead sources, enrollment trends, and recruitment outcomes. Leadership teams can get trustworthy data to plan on without waiting for manual report generation.