Aug 21 2025
How Montcalm Community College Gets Higher-Than-Average Reply Rates With Coach-Led Texting
How South Texas College Earns 20 to 30 Percent Response Rates With Text
TL;DR
Spreadsheets and telemarketing can’t keep up with a 29,000-student community college, and texting can. South Texas College (STC) chose Mongoose Text as its campus-wide platform for community college texting, connected it to Campus Management Radius, and rolled out campaigns across five campuses after COVID-19 hit enrollment hard. Its text campaigns earn 20 to 30 percent response rates, and Segments and Smart Messages save staff significant time.
- 20 to 30% response rates
- Five campuses on one platform
- Connected to Campus Management Radius
- Segments and Smart Messages save time
Download the Full Case Study
South Texas College’s text campaigns earn response rates of 20 to 30 percent. For a public community college serving nearly 29,000 degree-seeking students across five campuses, that’s a lot of students answering back.
STC is dedicated to expanding access to education in South Texas. It connected Mongoose Text to Campus Management Radius to improve its admissions and enrollment outreach.
Why Spreadsheets and Telemarketing Couldn’t Scale
Before Mongoose, STC ran its communication plans from cumbersome spreadsheets and outdated telemarketing, and the team struggled to reach prospective and current students. Then COVID-19 hit enrollment hard, and STC needed to bounce back.
How STC Rolled Out Community College Texting Across Five Campuses
STC chose Mongoose Text as its campus-wide engagement platform and rolled out texting campaigns across all five campuses. Implementation was easy compared with the other options the team considered.
- Campaigns across five campuses from one platform.
- Segments and Smart Messages to target outreach and automate routine follow-up.
- Analytics that summarize data, track results, and guide decisions.
- A Campus Management Radius connector for admissions and enrollment outreach.
Results
20 to 30 Percent Response Rates
STC’s text campaigns earn 20 to 30 percent response rates, part of a dramatic jump in engagement while community college enrollment was declining nationally.
For context, Mongoose’s 2026 benchmark of 109 community and technical colleges found that Smart Messages, the best-performing format, average an 11.1 percent reply rate across community colleges. The benchmark covers a different period and team mix, but STC’s results sit well above that range.
Time Back for Staff
Segments and Smart Messages automate the routine work that spreadsheets and phone calls used to eat up, saving STC’s staff significant time.
What Other Community Colleges Can Take From STC
If your outreach still lives in spreadsheets and phone lists, start by moving it to one texting platform connected to your CRM, then use Segments so each campus and audience gets messages that fit. Ask a question in your texts, and use Smart Messages for simple replies; here’s why Smart Messages earn more replies. For a broader look at the tools two-year colleges need, see what community colleges need from communication tools in 2026.
Other community colleges have seen strong results, too. McLennan Community College grew enrollment 8.7 percent with 28 teams texting from one platform, and Gwinnett Tech supports 13,000 students with Text, Web Chat, and a four-person call center.
Download the Full Case Study
For a one-page summary of STC’s results to share with your enrollment team, download the South Texas College case study (PDF).
Want to see what Text could do for your enrollment? Book a demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
What response rates does South Texas College get on text campaigns?
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