University of Central Oklahoma Decreases Campus No-Shows by 10% with Mongoose

Download the Full Case Study

Sarah Krivy works in CRM Services for undergraduate admissions at the University of Central Oklahoma. Her team was doing the hard part, getting prospective students interested enough to book a campus visit, and then losing too many of them on the day itself. Competing schools had been texting students for a while, and UCO hadn’t yet.

UCO is a regional public university in Edmond, Oklahoma, serving more than 13,250 degree-seeking students. Within six months of connecting Mongoose Text to Ellucian CRM Recruit, the university had cut campus visit no-shows by 10 percent.

Why Do Campus Visit No-Shows Happen?

UCO came to Mongoose facing low enrollment and poor event attendance. Admissions needed to build interest with prospective students quickly and get more of them onto campus, and the campus visit was where interest either turned into momentum or quietly faded.

A missed visit is one of the earliest, quietest ways institutions lose students after they apply. The student booked it, so the interest was there. What was missing was a timely, personal nudge on a channel they’d see.

How UCO Set Up Text Reminders in Ellucian CRM Recruit

UCO knew personal texting was the best way to connect with prospective students. Whatever platform it chose also had to save staff time, which meant connecting to Ellucian CRM Recruit and automating contact imports instead of leaving the team to manage lists by hand.

Mongoose Text’s Recruit connector brings contacts in automatically, and every text becomes part of the student’s communication record. That gave the team two things at once: reminders that go out before each visit, and one-to-one conversations with any student who writes back.

“Our competitors have had texting for a while, so for us, it’s huge. It moves the needle to where our competitors are… [CRM] integration allows for a more complete communication record.”

Sarah Krivy, CRM Services, Undergraduate Admissions, University of Central Oklahoma

What Changed in Six Months

Campus visit no-shows fell 10 percent. Text reminders sent ahead of scheduled visits cut the number of students who skipped them.

The results came fast. UCO saw them six months into the partnership and only three months into its recruiting cycle.

Conversations turned into accepted students. One-to-one texts gave prospective students an easy way to ask questions and stay in touch with admissions, and those conversations are translating into accepted students.

What Other Admissions Teams Can Take From UCO

You don’t need a new event strategy to fill the visits students have already booked. A few things from UCO’s setup carry over to almost any admissions office:

• Send visit reminders by text, from a person students can reply to, so a question or a conflict becomes a conversation instead of a no-show.
• Connect texting to your CRM so contacts flow in automatically and replies land in the student’s record. If you’re unsure whether your current system can handle this, this 10-minute CRM self-check is a quick way to find out.
• Read the replies. A student who texts back with a question is telling you exactly what’s in the way.
• Watch your visit follow-through as closely as your bookings. A rising no-show rate is one of the signs your follow-up process is broken.

Other public universities have seen similar results from the same approach. OSU-Cascades raised its contact rate with admitted students from 36 percent to 57 percent by following texts with phone calls, and Jacksonville State’s graduate admissions team uses the same Ellucian Recruit connector to trigger texts straight from the CRM.

A Direct Line to Every Prospective Student

Six months in, UCO’s admissions team had something it didn’t have before: a direct, personal line to the students it was recruiting, with every conversation saved in Recruit.

Download the Full Case Study

For a one-page summary of UCO’s results to share with your admissions team, download the University of Central Oklahoma case study (PDF).

Want to see what Text could do for your campus visits? Book a demo.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you reduce campus visit no-shows?

Send a reminder by text before the visit, from a person the student can reply to. The University of Central Oklahoma cut campus visit no-shows by 10 percent within six months after it started texting students before their visits.

Does Mongoose connect to Ellucian CRM Recruit?

Yes. UCO uses the Ellucian CRM Recruit connector to import contacts automatically, and every text becomes part of the student’s communication record in Recruit.

How long did it take UCO to see results?

UCO saw a 10 percent drop in campus visit no-shows six months into its partnership with Mongoose, and only three months into its recruiting cycle.

Won’t students find text reminders intrusive?

A short reminder about a visit the student booked is expected and useful. Because the text comes from a person they can reply to, it also gives them an easy way to ask a question instead of skipping the visit.

Why did UCO start texting prospective students?

UCO was dealing with low enrollment and poor event attendance, and competing schools had been texting for a while. Texting brought UCO up to speed with its competitors and gave admissions a more complete communication record through its CRM.