University budgets are always stretched. Rising operational costs, growing tech demands, and higher student expectations leave little room for new student-facing investments. Yet one hidden line item quietly eats into those budgets: IT support operations—specifically, the cost to resolve each support ticket.

Most campuses spend $30–$40 per ticket on licenses, agent time, manual hand-offs, and overhead. With thousands of tickets each semester, that adds up. But some universities have cut their cost per ticket to $22, unlocking funds for direct student services. Here’s how.

Where the Costs Add Up

Clovity’s review of dozens of U.S. universities identified four major cost drivers:

1. Multiple Platforms

   • Separate tools per department (IT, HR, Admissions, etc.)

   • More licenses, maintenance, and admin overhead

2. Manual Routing & Handling

   • Hand-triaged queues or bouncing between inboxes

   • Adds time and labor to every ticket

3. High Volume of Repeat Tickets

   • Agents field the same basic questions repeatedly

   • Could be resolved via self-service

4. Limited SLA Visibility & Reporting

   • Hours spent compiling reports and chasing missed targets

   • No real-time dashboards

The Fix: One Portal, Smarter Automation, Self-Service

Campuses that hit $22 per ticket made three key changes:

✅ Unified Service Desk

• Consolidated all departments into one Jira Service Management portal

• Fewer licenses, shared workflows, consistent metrics

✅ Automated Ticket Routing

• JSM automation instantly assigns tickets by issue type

• Eliminates manual triage delays, especially during peaks

✅ Effective Self-Service

• A robust knowledge base + chatbot deflected 42% of requests

• Students solve routine issues—password resets, software access—without agent help

The Impact: Savings Reinvested

Once implemented, campuses saw:

• Cost per ticket down from $35 to $22

• Backlog reduced by 41%

• CSAT increased by 18 points

• SLA compliance improved across all teams

Freed-up budget then funded:

• New classroom technology

• Student success apps

• Mental-health and well-being services

• Expanded Wi-Fi and labs

Even saving $10–$12 per ticket scales to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually—funds that directly enhance student experience.

Why It Matters
This isn’t a massive IT overhaul. It’s about choosing the right platform, automating repetitive work, and consolidating where it counts—so more of your budget goes toward the programs that students actually use.

📧 Contact us at sales@clovity.com or visit 🌐 atlassian.clovity.com to get started today.