Challenges
Despite great communication and initiatives with Baltimore public high schools, CollegeBound realized that almost 30% of their students didn’t ultimately enroll in college, although they had been accepted and committed to a particular college in the spring. COVID added another level of complexity as the in-person services had moved online.
Plans & Process
CollegeBound began partnering with Modern Campus Message in 2013 to address the summer melt and improve the yield of students attending college as they originally had planned. CAPS collect cell phone numbers during the SAT registration process in the fall and send a letter to parents and guardians explaining the text messaging program and goals.
“Students tend to ignore things they don’t understand. We explain the why [of verification] and assist them through the process of it. We do not stress about it because they have already been selected and we do not want to create an additional stressor for their college application process," says Melisa Hypolite, Associate Program Director.
We are really consistent in our messaging and find the value in developing that relationship as early as possible. If we wait until the summer, some students will miss the window of opportunity. By starting in the summer prior to their senior year, we are able to show them value and guide them through the process.
Marquise O’NealAssociate Program Director
Results
From 2014 to 2020, CollegeBound found that students who received texts were 19% more likely to enroll in college than those who did not receive texts. Additionally, they found an average enrollment difference of 22% per year of those who received texts and enrolled in college, versus those who didn’t receive texts and enrolled. Despite a 7.6% decrease in enrollment from 2019 to 2020, CollegeBound realized a 41.20% enrollment improvement for those who received texts.
Of those students who did receive texts, 90% responded within the first 24 hours, 85% responded in less than 4 hours and 44% responded within just one hour. Less than one percent of students opted out.
Texting the Summer Melt Away
How Text Messaging Can Increase Marticulation at Your College or University
About Modern Campus
Modern Campus empowers 1,700+ higher education institutions to attract, engage, and retain learners for life with software solutions that enable a modern student experience.
The Modern Campus learner-to-earner lifecycle platform powers solutions for web content management, conversational text messaging, catalog and curriculum management, career pathways, student engagement and development, and non-traditional student management. The result: innovative institutions engage their modern learners for life, while providing modern administrators with the tools needed to streamline workflows and drive high efficiency.
Learn how Modern Campus is leading the modern learner-to-earner movement at moderncampus.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
