Demo Meridian Global University: a multi-campus academic day

Demo Meridian Global University (MGU) has campuses in India, the UAE, and the United Kingdom. It runs undergraduate programmes, executive certificates, residences, laboratories, a publishing unit, and externally funded research. Students pay in local currency or by instalment, sponsors pay under agreements, faculty work across campuses, and the board needs one group view without losing each campus’s statutory books. OSERP connects the learner lifecycle to receivables, payables, inventory, payroll, grants, assets, and the general ledger.

1. Model campuses, legal entities, and academic ownership

Create a tenant for MGU Group, then a company for each legal entity. A campus is an operating branch; a faculty, school, programme, and research centre are dimensions used for responsibility and reporting. Configure fiscal calendars, tax registrations, functional and reporting currencies, numbering series, bank accounts, fee schedules, warehouses, and approval policies before importing student data.

Setup field	Demo value	Impact
Company	MGU UAE FZ-LLC	Legal ledger and local compliance
Campus	Dubai Knowledge Park	Operating and capacity reporting
School	School of Applied Computing	Academic ownership and cost centre
Programme	MSc Data Systems	Fee plan and learner cohort
Academic year	2026/27	Period and revenue schedule
Functional currency	AED	Local transaction books
Group currency	USD	Consolidated management reporting
Student receivable	AR-STU-1100	Tuition and student balances
Deferred tuition	CL-TUITION-2200	Revenue recognition control

The company master stores legal name, registration, address, timezone, first fiscal period, tax profile, rounding precision, default accounts, and lock policy. A user receives campus and role scope separately: a registrar can enrol a student but cannot post a journal; a finance officer can issue an invoice but cannot change a fee schedule without approval.

2. Admit an applicant and create a learner record

An applicant record stores application number, legal name, preferred name, date of birth, nationality, contacts, identity document, consent, previous qualification, programme, intake, campus, source, and status. Duplicate detection uses configurable identity keys and warns before a second profile is created. Sensitive identity documents are restricted while non-sensitive programme data remains available to authorised staff.

The admissions status path is Draft → Submitted → Screening → Offer → Accepted → Enrolled, with controlled Waitlisted, Rejected, Withdrawn, and Deferred exits. The offer stores programme, start term, conditions, deadline, fee schedule, scholarship decision, sponsor, currency, and approver. Acceptance creates a student number and snapshots the offer terms; changing the public fee schedule later must not rewrite an accepted learner’s contract.

Example: Sara Mensah accepts an MSc offer in Dubai for AED 72,000 over three terms. Her 25% merit scholarship, AED 5,000 registration fee, and sponsor contribution are recorded as separate components. OSERP can explain why her first invoice differs from the catalogue price without a manual spreadsheet.

3. Enrol modules and plan the academic year

The curriculum catalogue stores module code, title, credits, level, prerequisites, delivery mode, capacity, faculty, campus, assessment method, and effective dates. A class section stores academic year, term, instructor, room, timetable, capacity, and status. Enrolment rows retain student, module, credit load, fee rule, add/drop dates, grade status, and source approval.

The registration engine checks prerequisites, maximum load, timetable conflict, outstanding holds, and programme version. A finance hold blocks new registration when policy requires, but an authorised override records reason, approver, expiry, and evidence. Dropping a module creates a refund or deferred-credit event according to the withdrawal date; staff do not delete the original enrolment.

4. Configure tuition, services, and payment plans

Fee schedules define programme, campus, academic year, currency, effective date, charge type, amount, tax code, due date, and revenue or liability mapping. Charge types can include tuition, registration, examination, laboratory, accommodation, meal plan, transport, graduation, and library replacement. A payment plan stores instalments, percentages, dates, late-fee rule, sponsor share, and approval.

Fee field	Demo value	Why it matters
Charge type	Tuition - Term 1	Revenue schedule and invoice line
Gross amount	AED 24,000.00	Contracted term value
Scholarship	AED 6,000.00	Approved contra-revenue or discount policy
Sponsor share	AED 10,000.00	Separate payer receivable
Student share	AED 8,000.00	Learner balance and collection owner
Due date	2026-09-30	Ageing and dunning
Tax code	EDU-EXEMPT	Correct tax treatment
Recognition period	Sep-Dec 2026	Deferred-income release

The fee engine validates that sponsor, scholarship, and student shares reconcile to gross. A discount override needs a reason and approval. A fee waiver is not the same as a refund: it changes the obligation before collection, while a refund returns cash against an original receipt.

5. Invoice students, sponsors, and agents separately

The billing run selects enrolled learners, fee plan, campus, and due date, then creates versioned invoices. The invoice header stores student, payer, company, branch, academic year, currency, payment terms, tax profile, and collection owner. Detail rows store charge type, module or residence, quantity, unit price, scholarship, sponsor share, student share, deferred-income account, and source enrolment.

For Sara, OSERP issues an AED 8,000 student invoice and an AED 10,000 sponsor invoice for the same term. Both reference the accepted offer and enrolment, but have different payer, due date, collection workflow, and statement. A sponsor rejection creates a dispute task linked to the claim document; it does not silently transfer the amount to the student.

Receipts store bank or gateway, value date, currency, reference, fee, payer, and allocation. A deposit remains a liability or unapplied credit until allocated. Duplicate gateway references are idempotently rejected. Refunds require the original receipt, reason, bank validation, approval, and an audit event.

6. Recognise tuition across the teaching period

At invoice posting, OSERP records the configured receivable and deferred tuition. The recognition schedule stores invoice, programme, term, service dates, amount, currency, release frequency, account, campus, and status. Monthly release creates journals linked to the schedule; a withdrawal or approved credit note adjusts future unearned balance according to policy.

Example: AED 24,000 gross tuition is recognised at AED 8,000 per month across September, October, and November after the AED 6,000 scholarship is applied under MGU’s policy. The controller can trace every released amount to the invoice, enrolment, attendance or service period, and approval. A backdated change is blocked after period lock and requires a correction journal.

7. Manage scholarships, grants, and sponsored cohorts

Scholarship profiles store award code, funder, eligibility, percentage or amount, programme, term, start/end date, renewal condition, budget, and approver. Disbursement rows reference student, invoice, amount, currency, and evidence. The award ledger shows approved, committed, utilised, returned, and remaining funds.

Research grants use a project with sponsor, award number, start/end date, direct-cost categories, indirect rate, reporting currency, restricted account, and budget. Research purchases, faculty time, lab consumables, travel, and subcontractor costs are tagged to the grant. A cost outside the approved category routes to exception review rather than being hidden in an unrestricted department account.

8. Operate residences, laboratories, and campus inventory

Residence inventory tracks building, room, bed, occupancy, move-in/out date, deposit, rate, damage assessment, and status. A room charge links to the student and term. A maintenance request stores asset, location, priority, vendor, SLA, cost, and completion evidence.

Laboratory items use lot, expiry, storage condition, hazard class, UoM, custodian, and warehouse. A practical session issues reagents and safety equipment to a class or research project. A recalled or expired lot is quarantined and traced to every issue, supplier invoice, and disposal record. Stock adjustments require count sheet, reason, witness, and approval.

9. Procure services, equipment, and teaching materials

Department requests include campus, faculty, grant or cost centre, item, specification, quantity, required date, budget line, and preferred supplier. Purchase orders preserve quotation, currency, tax, delivery schedule, inspection, and assetisation rule. Goods receipts capture quantity, serial, condition, warranty, and acceptance. Supplier invoices are matched to purchase order and receipt before payment.

Imported laboratory equipment priced in GBP records transaction rate, freight, insurance, duty, installation, and local valuation. The asset record stores serial, location, custodian, useful life, depreciation method, residual value, grant restriction, and in-service date. Moving an asset between campuses creates a transfer with approval and audit history.

10. Pay faculty, adjuncts, and campus employees

Faculty contracts store employee or supplier identity, school, campus, teaching load, rate, currency, effective dates, research allocation, withholding, bank, and approval. An adjunct statement is generated from approved teaching sessions and assessment work, linked to section, hours, rate, and cost centre. Payroll handles salary, benefits, overtime, deductions, and employer contributions while preserving restricted employee detail behind a summarised journal.

No lecturer can approve their own contract change or payment statement. A workload exception records planned versus delivered hours, reason, approver, and effect on payroll or accrual. Inter-campus faculty cost is recharged through controlled intercompany documents rather than ad-hoc journals.

11. Close campuses and consolidate the group

The close checklist reconciles student and sponsor receivables, deposits, deferred tuition, scholarship utilisation, grants, residence occupancy, laboratory stock, supplier accruals, adjunct statements, payroll, assets, tax, bank gateways, intercompany balances, and FX revaluation. Each checklist line stores owner, evidence, expected balance, actual balance, variance, reviewer, and sign-off date.

An invoice in AED, a supplier bill in GBP, and a research grant in USD retain transaction rate, source, timestamp, realised FX, and revaluation status. Consolidation eliminates intercompany faculty recharges and campus service balances while preserving local statutory books. A period lock prevents edits; approved correction journals cite the original document and reason.

KPI	Before OSERP discipline	After OSERP discipline	Improvement
Fee billing cycle after enrolment	9 days	1 day	89% faster
Unallocated student receipts	7.4%	1.2%	84% lower
Scholarship reconciliation	16 days	4 days	75% faster
Grant-cost eligibility accuracy	88%	98.6%	+10.6 points
Residence occupancy accuracy	91%	99.2%	+8.2 points
Group month-end close	17 days	6 days	65% faster

Practice challenge

Create the three companies and campuses, configure an MSc programme and fee plan, admit Sara, issue a scholarship and sponsor award, enrol modules, invoice student and sponsor shares, schedule deferred tuition, allocate a payment, assign a residence bed, issue laboratory stock, buy GBP equipment with landed cost, post an adjunct statement, allocate a USD research-grant expense, revalue balances, consolidate intercompany entries, and close the term. For every field, explain its type, length or precision, source, permission, validation, accounting impact, tax result, API identifier, exception path, and audit event.

Related: Education lab, Setup field guide, Inventory field guide, AR Invoice field guide, AP Invoice field guide, GL mapping guide, Multi-currency lab, and API cookbook.