Aug 21 2025
How Montcalm Community College Gets Higher-Than-Average Reply Rates With Coach-Led Texting
How Frostburg State University Reduced Summer Melt 3 Percent With Text
TL;DR
When many of your admitted students are the first in their families to go to college, the admissions process needs translating, for students and for the families helping them. Frostburg State University (FSU) in Maryland uses Mongoose Text, connected to TargetX, to text students and their families at the points where they tend to drop off, in plain language. That family engagement strategy helped FSU reduce summer melt by 3 percent for the incoming class of 2022, and student replies gave the campus qualitative feedback to guide decisions.
- 3% less summer melt, class of 2022
- Texts to students and families
- Plain language, no jargon
- Connected to TargetX
Download the full case study
Natalie Wagoner, Director of Admissions at Frostburg State University, puts it simply: a lot of Frostburg’s admitted students are the first in their families to go to college, and the admissions process needs explaining.
“This is an essential tool and we can’t do without it… We have a very high first generation population so there’s a lot of education that needs to be done.”
Natalie Wagoner, Director of Admissions, Frostburg State University
FSU is a regional public university in Frostburg, Maryland, serving more than 4,000 degree-seeking students. Its admissions team uses Mongoose Text, connected to TargetX, to reach students and the families helping them through the process.
Why melt was a first-generation challenge
FSU was working to reduce summer melt, support a large first-generation population, and improve the admissions experience, all on a tight budget. Families new to the college process often didn’t know what came next, so the team needed real conversations with both students and their families.
How FSU built family engagement into admissions texting
FSU texts students and their families throughout the prospect journey, focusing on the points where students tend to drop off and the key steps in the admissions process. The team breaks down jargon and keeps every text conversational.
Their guiding rule for the copy: “Let’s use definitions and terms that make sense.”
FSU’s approach rests on three things:
- Parent and family engagement, so the people helping a student know what’s due and when.
- Qualitative research from student replies, which gives the campus data to guide decisions.
- Targeted melt prevention at the moments students are most likely to drop off.
Results
Summer melt fell 3 percent for the incoming class of 2022. FSU also gathered qualitative data from student conversations that now informs decisions across campus.
What other admissions teams can take from Frostburg
If many of your students are first-generation, write to the family as well as the student, and assume nobody knows the vocabulary. Then find the steps where admitted students stall and text right before them. Melt is rarely about the message itself; here’s why melt is a follow-up problem, not a messaging problem, and why admissions communication plans fail in the summer. For more on reaching families, see why institutions should prioritize communication with parents.
Other schools have seen the same pattern. OSU-Cascades lifted its contact rate with admitted students from 36 to 57 percent by pairing texts with phone calls, and Ewing Marion Kauffman School gets 98 percent of re-enrollment replies within 24 hours by texting families yes-or-no questions.
Download the full case study
For a one-page summary of Frostburg’s results to share with your admissions team, download the Frostburg State University case study (PDF).
Want to see what texting could do for melt at your school? Book a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Frostburg State reduce summer melt?
Why does family engagement matter for first-generation students?
What does Frostburg learn from student replies?
Does Mongoose work with TargetX?
