CloudFiles for higher education
Admissions offices chase transcripts, recommendation letters and score reports for every applicant, then file them in Salesforce by hand. CloudFiles creates application folders, collects files by secure link and generates admit letters.
Every application complete and filed before review
Admissions teams spend the season sorting, chasing and retyping files before a reader sees an application. CloudFiles does that work on the application in Salesforce, so staff spend the season on decisions instead.
The manual way
- Salesforce keeps a prospective student's early transcript on their inquiry record and every later file in one flat list on the application. Reviewers scroll that list for a single recommendation, and the application sits idle while they search.
- Education Cloud lists each document an application needs as a checklist item, and its applicant portal asks for a login. Files from anyone without that login arrive by email, so staff attach each one and tick its item by hand.
- Salesforce saves the applicant's high school transcript to the application as a single file. Its GPA, courses and grades stay inside the PDF, so a processor keys every one of them in before reviewers can score the applicant.
- A mailed school packet reaches Salesforce as one long scanned file on the application. Admissions staff page through it and rename every transcript and counselor letter, so the review waits until the whole packet is sorted by hand.
- Every reviewer condition is already on the application review in Salesforce, yet each admit letter is still assembled on its own. Staff build them one student at a time, so release day waits until the last conditional letter is finished.
The CloudFiles way
- Every application gets its own folder with subfolders for transcripts, recommendations and decision letters, created automatically. When a prospective student applies, every file they sent during inquiry moves into the applicant's own folder.
- A flow emails each applicant one CloudFiles upload link covering every missing checklist item, with no login needed. Each upload lands in the right subfolder of the application, and the flow ticks its checklist item moments later.
- The applicant's education record fills with GPA, courses and grades straight from the uploaded transcript. CloudFiles writes every course as its own row, and offices that want a second look approve the values beside the transcript page.
- Each scanned school packet reaches the application already sorted into transcripts, counselor letters and score reports. CloudFiles splits the single file into separate documents, classifies each one and files it in the matching subfolder.
- Admit letters for a whole admitted class are generated from Salesforce in one run. Each conditional letter fills its conditions straight from the application review, and every finished letter is saved in the application's decision letters subfolder.
From recommender letters to signed enrollment
Six admissions and advising jobs, each running on the Salesforce records your office already opens every day of the cycle.
Recommendation letter upload links
CloudFiles gives every recommender a secure upload link of their own, with no login. Each letter lands in the application's recommendations subfolder, and the application shows that letter as received.
- Admissions officers add a recommender to the application, and a flow emails that recommender a personal upload link
- The letter arrives in the recommendations subfolder, and the recommender is marked as submitted with the date
- Admins build this with the create file request flow action, started when officers add each recommender
Application reader packets with tracking
CloudFiles merges an applicant's essay, transcript and letters into one PDF for seasonal readers. Directors share it by secure link, and every reader view is recorded on the application review.
- Directors assign a reader on the application review, and the packet goes out by a link limited to that reader's email
- Each time the reader opens the packet, the view and the time spent on it land on the application review
- Admins build this with the merge documents (sync) flow action, then share the merged PDF through a secure link
Transfer credit from transfer transcripts
CloudFiles turns each course on an uploaded transfer transcript into its own course credit transfer application. The registrar then decides which credits transfer, with the transcript page alongside.
- A transfer student uploads a transcript by secure link, and it is filed on that student's application in Salesforce
- Every course on the transcript becomes its own course credit transfer application, with its name, grade and credits
- Admins build this with the document mapper flow action, writing straight to Salesforce or holding values for review
Graduate folders moved into alumni records
When a learner program's status turns to completed, CloudFiles moves the graduate's folder into the institution's alumni folder. The final transcript stays filed on the person account for later requests.
- Registrar staff answer an alumni transcript or degree verification request from the same person account years later
- Active student folders then hold only current learners, so advisors never scroll past files of students who left
- Admins build this with the move resource flow action, with the alumni folder kept in the same storage drive
Test score reports matched to every student
Staff upload one test score report, and CloudFiles matches each score to the right student by ID, with its subject and term. A flow then generates every student's progress report from those scores in one run.
- Each score lands on the matching student's record, and only a score without exactly one match waits for staff
- Every student keeps their own folder and subfolders, where their generated progress report is saved automatically
- Admins match every score row to its student by ID, using the document mapper flow action in a record-triggered flow
Enrollment agreements with e-signature
CloudFiles generates the enrollment agreement from the admitted student's application and sends it for e-signature. Once every signer finishes, the signed copy returns straight to the application record.
- Admissions marks the application as accepted, and the agreement is generated with the student's name and program
- The student signs first and a parent or guardian signs next, all in one envelope sent for e-signature
- Admins build this with the generate document (batch) flow action and a template that sets the signing order
Key documents we handle for higher education
These are the files an admissions or registrar office moves every cycle, and CloudFiles handles any other campus document the same way.
High school transcripts
The record of courses, grades and GPA an applicant sends, filed on the application and the source for the applicant's education record.
Test score reports
Score results uploaded together in one staff report, each one matched automatically to its own student's record and later progress report.
Recommendation letters
Letters from teachers, counselors and employers, each uploaded by its own recommender through a secure link and marked received on the application.
Essays and resumes
Personal statements and resumes from the applicant, kept in the application's folder and merged into the packet that seasonal readers open.
Admit letters
Admit, conditional admit and waitlist letters generated from the application, with any conditions filled in from the application review.
Enrollment agreements
The agreement or deposit letter an admitted student signs by e-signature, with the signed copy returned to the application record automatically.
Stay industry compliant
CloudFiles is independently audited for SOC 2 Type II, certified to ISO 27001, and compliant with HIPAA and GDPR. Data residency is supported in the US, EU, UK and AU. Your files stay in your own storage. CloudFiles never re-hosts them, and they are not used to train our AI models.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. CloudFiles places its file widget on the Education Cloud applicant portal, which is an Experience Cloud site. Applicants upload transcripts and essays straight into their application's folder from the portal. Each widget shows only the subfolders that audience is meant to use, and every upload stays filed on the application in Salesforce.
Yes. CloudFiles classifies each uploaded file and returns its document type, which a flow compares with the checklist item behind the request. If a certificate comes in where a transcript was requested, the flow marks the item rejected and records a reason. The applicant then receives a fresh upload link for the right document.
Yes. CloudFiles sends the reviewing faculty member a secure link to the course syllabus, straight from the academic review request. If the syllabus is missing, a flow sends the student an upload link for it. The uploaded syllabus lands beside the request, ready for the faculty member to open whenever they review the course.
Yes. CloudFiles generates one summary document from all of the student's course credit transfer applications. A table in the Word template repeats for every course, showing its grade, credit hours and status. A flow builds the summary as a PDF and saves it in the student's folder, ready to send with the transfer decision.
Yes. CloudFiles steps run inside a record-triggered flow on the individual application, so every status can kick off its own document step. A move to in review can share the reader packet, and a move to admit can generate the letter. Admins link each status to its step in Salesforce Flow with no code.
Yes. CloudFiles gives each student's person account its own folder, and the folders for that student's applications and advising cases sit beneath it. When the application status turns to enrolled, a flow moves the admissions folder under the learner profile moments later. Advisors then find the final transcript on the record they work from until graduation.
Yes. The CloudFiles implementation team runs a one-time backfill at go-live for applications and person accounts that already exist. Each existing record gets the same folders and subfolders the flow gives new records. Staff then open earlier applicants' documents exactly the way they open this cycle's applicants.
CloudFiles keeps every transcript, essay and admit letter in the institution's own SharePoint, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or S3 storage. Each file sits in a folder tied to its application, and staff open it from the application record in Salesforce. CloudFiles never re-hosts the files, and they are never used to train AI models.
Bring your busiest admissions season to a demo
Bring a mailed school packet and a transfer transcript, and watch CloudFiles file them on an application in Salesforce, ready for review.