Sunraysia Institute of TAFE (SuniTAFE) is one of the largest providers of vocational education in north-west Victoria and has a growing international program of over 300 students. With a small international student services team, SuniTAFE Manager of International Programs Bradley Fyfe provided insight into how partnering with Cohort Go alleviated the unpredictability of international payments. 

“Prior to using the Cohort Go platform, our student services team was weighed-down with a multitude of manual student application and payment processes. With Cohort Go’s innovative approach to problem-solving, we are now well on our way to offering a better study experience for our students via online applications and integrated payments.” Bradley Fyfe, Manager International Programs, International Students Unit, Sunraysia Institute of TAFE.

One of the biggest problems for SuniTAFE was a complicated student application process weighing down their student services team time. 

In collaboration with Cohort Go, SuniTAFE was able to automate their admissions and student application workflow. The platform uses machine learning to automatically generate and distribute Letters of Offer, student invoices and payment receipts. This alleviated a lot of manual work, allowing SuniTAFE staff the ability to focus on more critical and innovative tasks.

Their students were also experiencing high foreign exchange rates and incurring expensive fees when making international transfer payments.

With the dedicated student payments portal, international students can now pay tuition invoices in their local currency with better foreign exchange rates and no fees. Students are also able to select from multiple payment options, with access to all major currencies.

Student data was being stored in multiple locations including spreadsheets and other applications, causing duplication, inaccuracies and delays.

The payments platform consolidates all data in one place and provides real-time payment status updates. SuniTAFE can now be assured of data integrity and have eliminated data redundancy. Real-time reports offer genuine customer insights to inform business decisions.

SuniTAFE staff are thrilled with the time they have re-gained from automating student applications and can focus energy into creating better outcomes for their students. Students can focus on completing their studies - with some extra cash in their back pocket too.

About SuniTAFE
Sunraysia Institute of TAFE is one of the largest providers of vocational education and training in north-west Victoria. SuniTAFE is a vibrant educational community, providing vocational education and training across two main campuses at Mildura and Swan Hill, a rural campus at Robinvale, and a training farm at Cardross. Visit www.sunitafe.edu.au.