Balance Costs and Long-Term Impact: 4 Steps to Help You Budget for an LMS

Between changes to public funding availability and rising operating costs, many higher education institutions are (understandably) tightening their budgets. However, it’s important that you’re strategic when reducing your overall costs. While it might be tempting to forgo certain tools and technologies, you could be doing so at the expense of delivering high-value educational experiences to your students.

For instance, eliminating your LMS, or even choosing a bare-bones alternative, would severely limit your ability to provide flexible and personalized learning experiences that students crave. Your LMS is the foundational platform that touches teaching, learning, student success, and institutional agility. Luckily, you can invest in a cost-effective, high-quality platform that pays off over time. Keep reading to learn how you can strategically invest in an LMS that helps you deliver top-tier education programs without blowing your budget.

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Step 1: Understand Your True Total Cost of Ownership

Budgeting for an LMS means looking beyond the base price. You need to consider your total cost of ownership, which could include:

• Licensing fees
• Implementation and migration costs
• Training and onboarding for your instructors and administrators
• Integrations and customization options
• Ongoing maintenance and support
• Potential additional fees to access your analytics

There are nearly endless LMS options out there. It’s vital that you consider your institution’s unique needs, including whether you require access to custom features and the potential impact of your faculty’s ability and willingness to adopt new technology tools. Choosing an open-source platform can help you reduce licensing costs while still maintaining access to highly customizable features and expert support.

👉 Expert tip: Create a comparison chart for each potential LMS to estimate your total cost of ownership over the next three to five years.

Step 2: Build Cross-Functional Buy-In Early

If you want to get long-term value from your LMS investment, then you need buy-in from stakeholders across your institution. While your IT department will likely handle the implementation and maintenance processes, your instructors and students will be the ones engaging with the system on a nearly daily basis.

Get early input from academic leaders, professors, instructional designers, and IT professionals so you have a clear understanding of what each group needs from a learning platform. If your institution has a student council or other student representatives, consider asking for their input as well. This will help all of your stakeholders know that you value their opinions, and it could help increase adoption once you’ve chosen an LMS.

👉 Expert tip: Email surveys to your various stakeholders to help you understand what they want and need from an LMS.

Step 3: Prioritize Long-Term Value Over Short-Term Savings

When budgets are tight, it’s tempting to adopt a cheaper system with the intention to upgrade it later, but those plans can backfire more often than not. When you prioritize short-term savings, you might find yourself dealing with poor end-user experiences that lead to reduced engagement. This can have a ripple effect on student learning outcomes and impact your institution’s credibility and reputation. Frequent negative digital learning experiences could be a factor in causing students to transfer, and negative word of mouth about your systems could encourage potential learners to enroll elsewhere.

Bare-bones LMS solutions can also lead to higher support costs in the future. Not all providers include extensive technical support in their base price, which means you could end up with unexpected costs in the event that you experience technical difficulties. While it might cost a bit more initially, selecting an LMS provider that offers high-quality support and service will likely save your institution money in the long run.

👉 Expert tip: Look for an LMS provider with a clear product roadmap, strong customer success programs, and references from institutions like yours.

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Step 4: Align Your LMS Investment With Institutional Goals

Smart budgeting requires you to look at more than just the cost of your LMS. Your platform’s capabilities should be aligned with your overarching institutional goals. If those capabilities are misaligned, you’ll probably spend more money over time.

For example, if your goal is to increase student enrollment, then you’ll need to provide the kinds of flexible learning opportunities that the market has come to expect. You’ll need an LMS that can easily handle fully online and hybrid learning environments. You’ll also need a platform that can deliver customized learning experiences that cater to students’ various interests and needs. A slightly cheaper platform without personalization or customization options likely won’t allow you to offer top-tier experiences that entice new students to choose your institution. However, investing up front in these capabilities will help you reach your enrollment goals faster.

Whether you want to increase operational efficiency or improve student learning outcomes, you need to consider your potential LMS’s capabilities and how they’ll help you (or hinder you) in pursuit of your institution’s goals. Aligning LMS functionality with your institutional priorities will also help you make a stronger case when you’re budgeting for your learning platform.

👉 Expert tip: Tie the features of your prospective LMS directly to your institution’s strategic plan to help you secure funding and support for your investment.

Budget Strategically With Open LMS

When your LMS budget is strategic, you’re likely to end up with a thoughtfully chosen platform that will drive value and serve your institution for years. Don’t just compare line items—take a holistic view of the platform’s cost, your stakeholder needs, and your institution’s long-term goals. Doing so will help you choose a cost-effective LMS that delivers ongoing value.