Students Aren’t Ghosting You. You’re Just Not Having a Real Conversation.

Let’s get this out of the way: mass email isn’t a communication strategy. It’s a broadcast. And students aren’t tuning in.

Higher ed institutions can no longer afford to rely solely on email blasts or static outreach campaigns. Today’s students expect responsive, personalized communication—on their terms, in real time. That’s where Conversation Intelligence comes in.

We looked at 100+ million student conversations—actual back-and-forth texts and chats—and the results were clear.

If your school is still pushing reminders and hoping they “read the email,” you’re losing students. Not because they don’t care, but because you’re not meeting them where they are, when they’re listening, in a way they actually want to respond to.

We recently hosted a webinar exploring how Conversation Intelligence can directly impact enrollment, retention, and student success. The Mongoose team—joined by Amanda Robillard from Gateway Technical College—shared how institutions can turn everyday communication into strategic advantage.

Why Conversations Matter More Than Ever

Here’s what the data told us:

• If a student doesn’t text or chat with you, the odds they enroll? Around 3%.
• Send them a few automated messages? You’ll get some traction—better than nothing.
• But when students engage in a real conversation—where someone actually replies and helps? Enrollment yield jumps to 34x.

This isn’t about flooding inboxes. It’s about being available when students are ready. And doing it in a way that doesn’t feel like they’re talking to a FAQ page with a phone number.

So, what’s Conversation Intelligence?

Conversation Intelligence is what happens when you stop guessing and start reading the room. Or in this case, the inbox. With AI, we can now analyze entire conversations—tone, emotion, sentiment, resolution. Not just “did they reply,” but did they get what they needed?

Here’s what we found:

• Fear and frustration spike around tech issues and account access. Not “annoyed,” but I’m about to bail on applying levels of stress.
• Mental health conversations often go unresolved—because institutions didn’t even realize they were happening.
• Conversations with no response from staff? 40% were left hanging.

If you’re texting students but no one’s really talking back—or worse, no one’s replying—then congrats, you’re ghosting them.

Insights That Drive Strategy

Gateway Technical College saw this problem. And fixed it.

They integrated Conversation Intelligence into how their advisors work. It didn’t require reinventing the wheel. It just made it easier to see what students were talking about, how they were feeling, and which staff needed support (or retraining).

The result? Fewer dropped applications. More enrollments. And less “oh, we didn’t realize that was a problem.”

 ”Mongoose was able to help us see that [having] our recruitment team [engage] in conversations via text message led to both an increase in our enrollment as well as a decrease in the number of our canceled or lost applications, when compared to those that weren’t engaging in text message conversations.”

Amanda Robillard, Manager, crm technology at gateway technical college

What this isn’t:

• A chatbot that pretends to be your advisor.
• A CRM with another layer of bloat.
• A system that just tells you how many messages went out.

What this is:

A way to stop losing students because no one noticed the conversation ended unresolved. A way to prioritize real, human outreach. A way to look at what students are actually saying—and do something about it.

The tech exists. The data’s right in front of us. The only question is whether you’re ready to do something with it.

More Than Just Messaging

Conversation Intelligence isn’t just about sending messages—it’s about building relationships at scale. With AI-assisted tools and real-time analytics, institutions can:

• Monitor student sentiment in real time
• Automate responses to FAQs while preserving human-led engagement
• Prioritize outreach to students who need help most
• Identify where internal processes may be causing confusion or stress

From admissions to advising to mental health outreach, this approach enables cross-campus alignment and faster, more effective service.

Ready to Move Beyond Notifications?

Higher ed has entered a new era—one where data, empathy, and action converge. Institutions that embrace Conversation Intelligence are already seeing measurable gains in yield, retention, and satisfaction.

Watch the full webinar here, and book a demo to learn more about Mongoose’s Conversation Intelligence Platform.

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