APPADEMY AWARDS
Celebrating the Best Digital Campus Experiences
Each year, the Appademy Awards recognize institutions using Modo Campus to create unified digital experiences that simplify campus life, strengthen engagement, and set a new standard for the modern campus.
Now in its seventh year, the Appademy Awards recognize universities and colleges that go beyond a standalone apps or legacy portals to deliver a truly connected experience layer across mobile and web. From personalized dashboards and integrated portals to dynamic, event-rich experiences, finalists showcase what’s possible when every touchpoint feels unified, intuitive, and designed around students.
Trusted by Award-Winning Campuses
Across the Modo Community
Recent Appademy Award winners and finalists include institutions like Penn State, Northern Arizona University, Palm Beach State College, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Vassar College, Santa Monica College, and more—spanning large public universities, community colleges, and private institutions
What Are the Appademy Awards?
The Appademy Awards are Modo’s annual, juried awards program recognizing the most innovative campus apps and digital experiences built on the Modo platform. Each year, a panel reviews submissions from institutions around the world, highlighting those that elevate design, usability, and impact across mobile apps and web portals. Unlike generic app rankings, the Appademy Awards focus on the unified experience layer—how institutions bring together mobile, desktop portal, communications, and integrations into one cohesive environment that makes it easier for students and staff to find what they need and stay engaged.
What the Program Recognizes
- Unified digital experiences: Campus apps and portals that work together as a single, integrated entry point for academics, services, and campus life.
- Measurable impact: Demonstrable results in engagement, retention, operational efficiency, or student satisfaction
- Personalization & relevance: Role-based and data-driven views that adapt to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests.
- Innovative use of integrations: Deep connections to SIS, LMS, ID, payments, and other systems that reduce friction and campus “noise.”
- Design & UX excellence: Intuitive, branded experiences that feel modern, accessible, and easy to navigate on any device.
Measurable Impact: Results That Matter
This measurable impact reinforces why campuses submit their work, and why the Appademy Awards keep growing—because the results are real, repeatable, and transformational.
Increased adoption and repeat engagement among first-year students
Improved retention or persistence indicators associated with belonging
Higher event attendance driven by mobile-first communications
Operational efficiency gain for IT, Student Affairs, and departmental teams
Reduction in help desk tickets due to streamlined access
Surge in portal traffic driven through personalized dashboards
Growth in student satisfaction scores tied to usability and access
Reduction in redundant tools or standalone microsites
Why the Appademy Awards Matter for Your Campus
For many institutions, the Appademy Awards are more than recognition—they’re a proof point that their digital campus strategy is delivering real impact. Winners often see increased visibility on campus, external media coverage, and a compelling story they can share with leadership, boards, prospective students, and external stakeholders.
Benefits of Participating
- Showcase your innovation: Highlight how your connected experience supports belonging, retention, and student success.
- Earn external validation: Gain visibility through EdTech and higher education media, expanding your campus story well beyond your institution’s walls.
- Benchmark against peers: See how your digital experience stacks up against leading institutions worldwide using Modo Campus.
- Inspire your community: Celebrate the cross-functional teams—IT, Student Affairs, Marketing, students—who bring your digital campus to life.
- Fuel future investment: Use award recognition, measurable outcomes, and third-party validation to support funding, resourcing, and roadmap conversations.
Appademy Award Winners:
A Look at Recent Standouts
Each year’s winners showcase how mobile apps and portals can work together as a unified experience layer—from highly personalized mobile journeys to redesigned desktop portals that become the daily starting point for campus life.
Best Integration & Best Overall Campus App
Penn State’s unified mobile experience, offering 26 different user experiences and hundreds of thousands of downloads, demonstrates how a deeply integrated app can become the digital front door for a large, distributed campus.
Best Desktop
Palm Beach State’s redesigned MyPBSC portal earned the Best Desktop Portal award for transforming a traditional portal into a modern, integrated hub where students can access services, tools, and communications in one place.
Best Traditional Event
UNCW Mobile was recognized for using the app to simplify fall move-in, coordinating communications, logistics, and resources in one experience—and laying the groundwork for future events like commencement.
Best Personalized Experience and Runner Up, Best Campus App
Utah Tech earned runner-up recognition for its deeply personalized campus app, featuring 16 integrated data points that power tools like My Day, used by over 34% of students, and driving 19.2K visits to the tuition payment site while achieving a 99%+ app download rate during new student orientation.
Best Overall Campus App
Northern Arizona University’s NAUgo app has been honored year after year across categories including Best Overall Campus App and Best Dining Experience, recognized for its engaging design and integrated, student-centric experiences.
Best Recruiting, Admissions or New Student Experience
UTEP earned recognition for delivering a structured, mobile-first New Student Experience that guides students before, during, and after orientation, replacing fragmented communications with a single, engaging experience that drove early adoption and nearly 500,000 screen views during the NSO period
Best Multi-Channel User Experience
CSU San Bernardino earned this award for its Graduation One Stop experience, which unified PeopleSoft data into a single, streamlined module across mobile and desktop, simplifying commencement tasks and helping drive a 37% increase in commencement registration compared to previous years.
Appademy Awards in the Spotlight
Resources from the Appademy Community
Nominate Your Campus for the Next Appademy Awards
Are you using Modo Campus to build a unified digital experience that your students and staff love? We invite you to share your story. Whether you’ve launched a new app, redesigned your desktop portal, consolidated disconnected tools into one experience layer, or unlocked new insights with data and integrations, your work could be the next Appademy Award winner.
This is your opportunity to highlight not only great design but also the measurable impact, outcomes, and real-world results your digital campus strategy is achieving.
Your nomination can include:
Overview of your digital experience
Write a brief highlight of your app and/or portal and what makes it unique.
Screenshots of key experiences
Show off your homepage, role-based views, portal and app layouts, and all the unique elements of your digital campus.
Metrics that demonstrate impact
How are you tracking success? Snag your statistics on usage, adoption, event attendance, retention indicators, success stories driven by data, or any KPI to show your strategy.
Your integration and systems strategy
Your integrations = Your trophy! These can include SIS, LMS, ID, payments, CRM, notifications, or any other systems your school integrates with create a seamless digital ecosystem.
Quotes or testimonials
Let’s hear from students, staff, or leadership to bring your story to life.
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