How Montcalm Community College Gets Higher-Than-Average Reply Rates With Coach-Led Texting

Download the Full Case Study

Montcalm Community College’s success coaches recently texted students a FAFSA reminder with a graphic they could screenshot and save. Lisa Gardner, Director of Student Success and Advising, said students loved it. It’s a small example of how Montcalm texts students, one coach at a time, with something they can use.

Montcalm is a rural two-year college in Michigan that supports students from application to graduation. Its Student Success team made Mongoose Text the center of its success coaching model, and quarterly benchmark reviews show higher-than-average reply rates and very few opt-outs.

“We focus on the relationship. Texting through Mongoose feels personal and consistent. Students know there’s a real person on the other end.”

Lisa Gardner, Director of Student Success and Advising, Montcalm Community College

Why Email and Calls Weren’t Reaching Students

Before Mongoose, Montcalm relied on email and phone calls, response rates were low, and students missed important messages.

“We were finding that students weren’t checking emails promptly, or they’d get overwhelmed and ignore them.”

Lisa Gardner

As texting grew more common, Montcalm surveyed its students and found overwhelming interest in more direct communication. The college needed a way to text students consistently, track those interactions, and make the student experience less confusing.

How Montcalm Built Success Coaching Around Text

Mongoose was Montcalm’s first texting platform, and the team chose one-to-one communication over mass messages from the start. Each student is assigned a success coach based on program or cohort and gets an introductory letter followed by a first text. From there, the relationship continues with weekly “Monday Messages,” check-ins, deadline reminders, and campus updates.

Coaches use those texts to guide students through financial aid, placement, registration, and day-to-day support, often with a follow-up question or a word of encouragement.

Smart Messages That Stay Personal

Smart Messages give students simple options, like “Reply 1 if you’ve submitted your FAFSA, 2 if you need help,” and each reply triggers a tailored response.

“We were hesitant about automation at first, but we’ve learned how to keep it personal.”

Lisa Gardner

That balance is part of the less obvious power of Smart Messages in higher ed: they save coaches time on routine questions so the conversations that need a person get one.

Texts Beyond Academics

Coaches also promote Welcome Week, clubs, library programs, and other events, often with images. “We just sent a FAFSA reminder with a graphic that students could screenshot. They love that,” Lisa said.

What Changed for Montcalm’s Coaches and Students

Higher-than-average reply rates and very few opt-outs. Montcalm’s quarterly benchmark reviews show students value the texts they get.

Consistency across the team. Lisa shares weekly messaging themes with her coaches. Shared inboxes and archived messages let a coach pick up where a previous relationship left off, which helps most when a student returns after time away.

“We don’t want students getting random blasts from multiple people. Mongoose helps us keep communication relationship-based.”

Lisa Gardner

Time back for a busy team. Coaches rely on scheduling, Segments, and shared templates, and new staff get up to speed quickly.

“It’s easy to train new users, and the platform’s flexibility makes it ideal for part-time staff.”

Lisa Gardner

What Other Community Colleges Can Take From Montcalm

Give every student one named person to text, and keep other offices from sending competing blasts. Set a weekly rhythm students can count on, like Monday Messages, and use Smart Messages for the yes-or-no questions so coaches have time for the rest. For a broader look at what student conversations reveal at two-year colleges, see what 646,000 conversations reveal about community college student success, and for teams worried about bandwidth, why bandwidth shapes retention work at community colleges.

Other colleges have built similar relationship-first models. Onondaga Community College has about 50 staff texting students as real, named people, and Defiance College gets fewer than six opt-outs a year by having students opt in at orientation.

Responsive Support

“Our Client Success Manager, Mary, helps us problem-solve quickly and shows us things we didn’t even know we could do.”

Lisa Gardner

Looking Ahead

Montcalm plans to expand its use of Smart Messages and multimedia outreach and keep refining its Segments. As other departments ask to use Mongoose, the Student Success team is protecting the coach-led approach that makes it work.

“Mongoose makes communication feel personal. That’s what makes it so effective.”

Lisa Gardner

Download the Full Case Study

For a two-page summary of Montcalm’s approach to share with your student success team, download the Montcalm Community College case study (PDF).

Want to see what coach-led texting could do for your students? Book a demo.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does texting support a success coaching model?

At Montcalm Community College, every student gets a success coach, an introductory letter, and a first text, followed by weekly “Monday Messages,” check-ins, and deadline reminders. Coaches use texts to guide students through financial aid, placement, registration, and day-to-day support.

What reply rates does Montcalm see?

Montcalm’s quarterly benchmark reviews show higher-than-average reply rates and very few opt-outs, which the team reads as a sign that students value the texts.

Won’t automation make texting feel impersonal?

Montcalm’s team was hesitant about that at first. It uses Smart Messages for simple prompts, like replying 1 or 2 about the FAFSA, and keeps the rest of the conversation personal and coach-led.

How do coaches stay consistent across a team?

Lisa Gardner shares weekly messaging themes with her coaches, and shared inboxes and archived messages let a coach pick up where a previous relationship left off, especially when a student returns after time away.

Is Mongoose easy for part-time staff to use?

Yes. Lisa Gardner says it’s easy to train new users and that the platform’s flexibility makes it ideal for part-time staff, with scheduling, Segments, and shared templates saving time.