How to Improve Student Retention by Going Beyond Basic CRM Tools

For dedicated higher education student success teams—that is, VPs of Student Success and Retention, Directors of Academic Advising, and Directors of Academic Support, or similar roles—getting college students enrolled is just the beginning.

Now, their work truly begins: They must ensure students attend their classes, access student support resources such as tutoring or counseling, maintain strong academic performance, and—above all—stay engaged with their college experience.

When student success teams succeed, students also succeed—they complete their credits, earn their college degree on time, and graduate, satisfied with their student experience and prepared for their careers or further education.

When these teams don’t succeed, the consequences can be serious: disengaged students, poor graduation rates, financial stress due to course repetition, and an increased likelihood that students will drop out.

Why Student Retention is Important

As higher education institutions grapple with how to improve student retention efforts, the stakes couldn’t be higher, nor the playing field more difficult to navigate. Today’s students are still struggling with the reverberations of pandemic learning loss. Students may flounder academically, including difficulty adapting to the increased reliance on online learning models, and may be unsure where to turn for support.

At the same time, some 59% of students report experiencing financial anxiety significant enough to lead them to consider withdrawing from school, with 80% reporting that these stressors negatively impacted their well-being.

Consequently, even at a reported 10-year high, experts place the rate of student persistence (students returning to the same institution at which they started) only at 68%, with student retention rates overall at 76%—meaning nearly one in four students will leave school, never to return.

Novel Student Retention Strategies

In the face of this complex situation, student success teams are interested in leveraging technological solutions to meaningfully enhance communication with students, allowing them to identify in advance students who are struggling or in danger of academic failure, offer resources such as counseling or tutoring, and better support student engagement overall—all to maximize student satisfaction and retention. 

One such solution is Mongoose’s Conversation Intelligence Platform (CIP), which is purpose-built to complement CRMs. Used together, these tools enable student success teams to initiate, manage, and analyze meaningful conversations across campus, connecting with students through personalized, empathy-driven two-way messaging.

Mongoose’s CIP also provides data-backed insights to learn what drives their students, optimize communication, and ensure that these conversations are effective in supporting students and helping them to remain engaged. 

For student success professionals, Mongoose’s CIP offers several capabilities:

For VPs of Student Success and Retention

For university personnel tasked with improving retention rates, finding ways to identify at-risk students and support them with both academic advising and mental health services is crucial. Mongoose offers a way to integrate technology into communication, enhancing student interactions, increasing uptake of support services, and driving higher engagement and retention rates.

For Directors of Academic Advising

Advising teams are in dire need of platforms that enable them not only to track student progress and identify at-risk students but also to implement proactive academic planning and support processes. Mongoose provides tools that facilitate seamless communication between advisors and students, enhancing the advising process and facilitating targeted interventions that keep students on track.

For Directors of Academic Support

Academic support professionals work tirelessly to develop, implement, and increase the uptake of programs and resources that enhance student learning and deliver positive outcomes. Mongoose enhances the coordination and effectiveness of academic support services through streamlined communication and scheduling tools, setting students up for academic success.

Meeting Students Where They Are

At McLennan Community College (MCC), an 8,000-student school in Waco, Texas, student success teams were seeking modern ways to improve communication and help students stay engaged. One major challenge was that emails to students were often ignored, making it difficult to communicate about financial aid, academic progress, or extracurricular activities.

Enter Mongoose. MCC adopted the CIP to streamline and personalize their communication with students. The platform’s integration with MCC’s CRM (Slate) allowed for seamless data flow and easy access to student information, and Mongoose’s user-friendly interface also made it simple for MCC’s personnel to adopt and use the platform efficiently.

MCC implemented Mongoose’s CIP to improve outreach across 28 teams and multiple campuses. This included:

• Onboarding support for new students, ensuring they felt connected from day one.
• Mentoring initiatives through MCC’s Success Coaching and First-Generation Programs.
• Real-time messaging that enhanced students’ sense of belonging and sense of community.

Improvement was almost immediate: In 2024, MCC’s student body saw a 12% reply rate to Mongoose messaging—far exceeding email response rates. As MCC’s Director of Enrollment Systems, Dustie Hamilton, noted,

“Mongoose has been a fantastic tool for engagement and has allowed us to build stronger connections with our students.”

Dustie Hamilton, Director of Enrollment Systems, Mclennan community college

Hamilton also praised Mongoose for being “an incredibly user-friendly system,” which reduced the workload for many of their student service teams, freeing up staff and faculty to provide timely follow-ups and meaningful, in-person support to those who needed it.

Looking Ahead

The challenges facing today’s learners demand a robust approach, including academic, mental health, and financial initiatives. But these resources are only effective if students are aware of them. That’s why timely, targeted communication is essential in higher education.

For institutional leaders focused on student retention, solutions like Mongoose provide a direct way to engage students, offer personalized support, and ultimately improve graduation rates.

Interested in learning more about how Conversation Intelligence can enhance student support, mentoring, and retention? Book a demo today to see how Mongoose can help keep students engaged and on track.

Author: