Real Conversations, Not Campaigns: Rethinking Student Enrollment and Retention Strategies

Far be it from us to say notifications don’t work. In fact, the 2025 Mongoose Benchmark Reports reveal that prospective students at 4-year institutions who receive reminders and alerts are 3.7 times more likely to take key enrollment actions than those who get no messages at all. 

But relying on one-way, batch-messaging campaigns alone leads higher education institutions to miss out on those follow-up conversations that drive action. Unsurprisingly, our data shows that admissions teams engaging students in personalized two-way conversations see dramatically better outcomes in FAFSA completion, enrollment yield, and campus visit attendance.

The transition to a conversation-first engagement strategy starts with a shift in approach but relies on tools designed to facilitate real-time, empathetic student communication and work alongside existing CRMs. We’re covering both, so your enrollment and retention teams can build meaningful relationships across the student lifecycle and meet institutional targets.

Benchmark Insights: How Conversations Move the Needle in Enrollment and Student Success

Enrollment is seldom easy, and challenges don’t stop once students are on campus. As they navigate complex decisions, students expect more than an impersonal, static notification. They need a simple way to connect with counselors and advisors, ask questions, and have real conversations.

Without that support, institutions risk lower response rates, missed deadlines, and increased summer melt. That’s a steep cost in today’s enrollment climate. 

Mongoose’s in-depth analysis of student text interactions below indicates that two-way conversations greatly outperform traditional notifications across key enrollment outcomes. 

The number of conversations students engage in matters too – the more interactions, the higher the conversion rates:

• Enrollment Yield: Just 3% of students who didn’t receive any texts enrolled, compared to a 94% yield among those engaged in over 21 two-way conversations.

• Campus Visits: Only 4% of students with no text engagement visited campus, while 73% of students who had 21 or more conversations attended. 

• FAFSA Submission: FAFSA submission rates were as low as 4% among students who got no texts, increasing to 94% for those involved in 21+ conversations.

• Summer Melt: Up to 71% of students who never received a text experienced summer melt. The melt rate dropped to 0% among those who had more than 21 conversations. 

“We had a 91.9% show rate this year — Mongoose played a huge part in that. The text created excitement and clarity before students even stepped on campus.”

MATT FORTESCUE, DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT AT KETTERING UNIVERSITY

Why Student Engagement Needs More Than a CRM

CRMs may excel at managing student data and administrative workflows, but unlike Mongoose’s Conversation Intelligence Platform, they struggle to deliver the personalized, timely, and relevant support today’s students expect and deserve. 

Trying to make do with a CRM alone adds to the strain on already overstretched teams, which makes it even harder to engage students in meaningful one-to-one interactions. 

Meanwhile, Mongoose complements your CRM, improving engagement and retention by picking up where basic data management tools fall short:

• Increased Response Time: CRMs rely on static, one-way messages and manual follow-up, causing frequent delays and student disengagement. On the other hand, Mongoose enables real-time, mobile-friendly conversations that minimize ghosting and opt-outs.

• Reduced Reporting Capabilities: A CRM can track basic most basic metrics, such as open and reply rates, yet Mongoose’s Conversation Intelligence Dashboard goes further, uncovering the emotional cues and themes behind each student conversation.

• Additional Compliance Burdens: CRMs leave the task of meeting compliance regulations to the institutions, increasing risks, while Mongoose automatically manages A2P standards, opt-outs, and texting requirements. 

• High Per-Message Costs: Unlike most CRMs that charge high per-message fees, Mongoose leverages its high volume to offer lower texting rates than even large institutions can get on their own.

• Poor Staff Efficiency: CRMs struggle with high inquiry volumes, leaving teams stretched thin. Mongoose’s real-time alerts and AI tools ease the load, so staff can focus their efforts where it counts.

Building a Conversation-Based Engagement Strategy with Mongoose

Whether it’s improving prospect outreach or proactively supporting enrolled students across their academic journey, Mongoose helps your team show up where it matters through conversation-first tools like:

• Smart Messages enable teams to leverage dynamic, context-aware responses, driving up to 4.5 times higher engagement across admissions, student success, and advancement compared to traditional, one-way batch messaging.

• Chat helps institutions deliver 24/7 support with 82% self-service success and achieve an average 25% lead capture, engaging students instantly and meaningfully even outside business hours. Over 30% of follow-up requests come from off-hours chats, ensuring students get timely, relevant help from a human agent when needed.

• The Conversation Intelligence Dashboard provides AI-driven insights into the emotions, trends, and topics shaping student experiences, so your staff can respond smarter, faster and keep the conversation going throughout the student lifecycle.

Get the Full 2025 Mongoose Benchmark Reports 

Discover the impact conversation-first tools like Mongoose Text, WhatsApp, Chat, Smart Messages, and the Conversation Intelligence Dashboard can have on improving enrollment and retention outcomes.

Download the free reports below to measure your current admissions outreach strategies against national benchmarks. 

Download the Free Benchmark Reports

Or there’s always the option to book a demo and see Mongoose in action.

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