Ways to Save
AIKCU members can save on a variety of higher education products and services
through collective purchasing power
AIKCU coordinates cost-saving agreements with businesses and vendors to save our members time and money on a wide range of products, services, and insurance products.
Thanks to the power of collaborative purchasing, AIKCU institutions, with around 60,000 students, are able to
harness the purchasing power of a large public institution.
Where possible and based on member suggestions, AIKCU pursues cooperative purchasing agreements to provide value to our collective membership that would not be available to them as individual institutions.
AIKCU Contact:
Marc A. Mathews, CPA, Finance and Business Services Consultant | marc.mathews@aikcu.org
AIKCU Employee Health Insurance
Members can join the AIKCU Benefit Alliance, a collaborative health insurance purchasing consortium serving AIKCU member institutions.
The Benefit Alliance allows its aggregate membership to achieve significantly better pricing than individual members could achieve on their own.
The Alliance operates under a jointly administered agreement, with Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky as the network provider and Point C as the plan administrator.
In addition to health insurance, member institutions may use the Alliance for COBRA, dental, vision, FSA/HSA/HRA, and short-term disability plan administration.
The AIKCU Benefit Alliance became fully operational in 2007 with four participating campuses and about 500 employees. Today it serves nearly 3,000 employees at 11 AIKCU member institutions. While the Alliance never guarantees against rising healthcare costs, participants have seen significant savings.
AIKCU-Sponsored MEP Retirement Plan
Members can participate in the AIKCU-sponsored MEP, a multiple employer plan for employee retirement benefits.
Three AIKCU institutions are enrolled in the MEP, which launched in 2024. A MEP lets employers band together to take advantage of scale and efficiencies they cannot achieve on their own.
The AIKCU-sponsored MEP allows members to provide enhanced retirement plans for their new and existing employees, while benefiting from potential cost savings, less burdensome administration, standardized operations, and outsourced professional compliance.
The plan is administered by four nationally recognized providers. PlanPILOT is the 3(38) investment fiduciary, Millennium is the registered investment advisor, Pentegra is the 3(16) administrative fiduciary, and TIAA is the plan recordkeeper.
AIKCU Service Agreements
AIKCU has independently entered into service agreements that let members save on library databases and technology.
LIBRARY DATABASES
American Chemical Society
Provided by AIKCU and ACS
Contact: AIKCU
ProQuest
Provided by AIKCU and ProQuest
Contact: AIKCU
TECHNOLOGY
Adobe Learning
Provided by AIKCU and ScholarBuys
Contact: ScholarBuys
Cybersecurity Virtual Information Security Office
Provided by AIKCU and HESS through DeepSeas
Contact: Dan Maynard, dan.maynard@deepseas.com
Microsoft Licensing
Provided by AIKCU and ScholarBuys
Contact: ScholarBuys
VMware Licensing
Provided by AIKCU and ScholarBuys
Contact: ScholarBuys
University of Kentucky Contracts
The University of Kentucky has provided the opportunity for AIKCU members to purchase off most UK contracts. AIKCU institutions may access the following databases to determine available UK commodities and vendors.
University of Kentucky: Commodities Contract List
UK Commodities List
University of Kentucky: Vendor Contract List
UK Vendor List
University of Kentucky: Office Supplies Contract
This especially lucrative UK contract (UK-2520-25) allows AIKCU members to purchase office supplies through ODP Business Solutions.
ODP Contact: Joe Beliveau, Joe.Beliveau@odpbusiness.com
AIKCU Collaborative Agreements
AIKCU offers a wide range of products and services in collaboration with The Coalition for College Cost Savings,
E&I Cooperative Services, and The HESS Consortium.
The Coalition for College Cost Savings
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How to Access Savings
Athletics
Intercollegiate Sports Insurance
NIL Platform
Energy/Sustainability
Energy Sustainability Program
Facilities
Energy Sustainability Program
MRO and Construction Supplies
Project Financing
Finance
Business Travel and Loyalty Perks
Energy Sustainability Program
Financial Welfare
Hotel Revenue
Procure to Pay Automation
Project Financing
Property/Casualty/Cyber/Risk Management
Purchasing Card
Settlement Recovery Services
Health & Wellness
Caregiving Solutions
Financial Wellness
Student Health Insurance
Human Resources
Caregiving Solutions
Financial Wellness
Long-Term Care Insurance
Legal
Risk Management
Settlement Recovery Services
Technology/Telecom
Administrative Services and IT Collaboration
Consulting for Ellucian, Salesforce, and Slate
Cyber Defense
Cybersecurity Insurance
Device Management
Enterprise Systems Consulting and Selection
Executive Consulting for Strategic Technology Use and Management
Hardware/Software/Peripherals
Identity and Access Management
IPv4 Brokerage Services
Learning Management Systems
Oracle CRM Implementation
Voice and Data Solutions
Travel
Corporate Travel and Loyalty Perks
Hotel Revenue
E&I Cooperative Services
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​E&I offers its 6,000 member institutions a broad portfolio of competitively solicited contracts with industry-leading suppliers, as well as innovative sourcing solutions.
E&I is the only member-owned, nonprofit sourcing cooperative exclusively focused on serving the procurement needs of the education community.
The HESS Consortium
www.hessconsortium.org/new/member-discount-programs
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HESS is a quickly growing group of private, nonprofit colleges and universities committed to working together in a community of practice for CIOs, CFOs, and technology professionals.
Being a part of HESS means that the technology community is available to back up your institution with a strong community of practice with technology experience and expertise specifically for private institutions.
HESS has entered into cost-saving contracts with these organizations:
The Brader Group
Network and data centers
D2L
Global learning
DeepSeas
Managed detection and response
Doctums
Consulting
Drivestream
ERP implementation support
Filewave
Device management, asset management, and security
First American Education Finance
Financing
Fischer Identity
Identity and access management
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Granite
Voice and data solutions
IMA Higher Education
Insurance
Insight
Computer hardware, software, and
peripherals
Moran Technology Consultants
Consulting
Paymerang
Invoice automation
SIG
Consulting