The Blog
Whether you're just starting or scaling, the trends, tips, and to-dos to improve your parent engagement strategy.
Featured
How 6 institutions boosted Fall 2024 yield with CampusESP
We analyzed data from 6 institutions using CampusESP and 127,987 prospective parents. See how families increase likelihood to apply, enroll, and more.
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Peak season playbook: Proven strategies to onboard first-year families
The summer before college is filled with questions for both students and their parents. That’s why the transition to college isn’t just about preparing students; it’s about equipping families with the information and support they need to guide them through it.
The power of personalization in recruitment and enrollment
Personalization can feel like an impossible task. You’re juggling shrinking teams, packed calendars, and a mile-long to-do list — do you really have time to tailor every message?
What we heard from 32,423 college parents
This year, over 32,000 families from 81 colleges told us exactly what they need to stay informed, connected, and confident about their student’s college experience. Spoiler: it’s not more Facebook Groups.
What families really expect from two-year colleges
Two-year colleges are opening doors for students across the country — but what do families actually expect when helping their students choose and succeed at these institutions?
Introducing the Slate "Suitcase" Integration: A faster, smarter way to integrate CampusESP with Slate
Learn how the new Slate Suitcase for CampusESP makes it easier than ever to connect families with key updates — and bring their engagement data back into your funnel. Faster setup, smarter modeling, and more nudges to help families help students enroll.
5 family engagement strategies that drive enrollment success
When it comes to turning "maybe" into "yes" in the enrollment process, engaging families is more important than ever. But how can already-saturated teams, facing growing enrollment concerns, focus on the right outreach that will drive the action needed?
AI strategies for family engagement: save time and scale impact
Let’s face it — AI is everywhere. You’ve probably heard “AI is here to stay” more times than you can count (maybe even in your sleep). But here’s the thing: when it comes to family engagement in higher ed, AI is a game-changer.
3 steps to engage parents this yield season
You’re actively working on yielding students, but are you also working on yield their parents? Engaging parents now can help you recruit the entire family and grow your incoming class. Get 3 approaches you can still try to hit your goals.
Top Trends in Family Engagement for 2025
Each year we look across all the data to elevate the 5 trends in family engagement that you need to know to hone your strategy and hit your goals. Based on insights from more than 420 institutions and 15 million families, get the top takeaways to connect with families now.
Scale family communication with campus partners
One of the easiest ways to create more family content is also one of the smartest — partnering with other departments across campus. Learn how the pros at UNC Wilmington and K State created content teams, and how CampusESP helps you manage your new content engine.
How to engage families around mental health for student success
Mental health continues to be a trending topic on campus and an area families need solid info on to support their students. The team at Georgia Tech takes us through their approach and programming.
How to keep families connected in a crisis
Last spring, 140 colleges and universities in the U.S. saw demonstrations on their campus. While mostly peaceful, each caused disruption and confusion for administrators, faculty, students... and the families miles away desperate to understand what was happening. University of Maryland, UNC Chapel Hill, and University of Oregon joined us to share their experiences updating families, and their learnings as they anticipate additional activity this fall.
Kickstart your next class: Enrollment planning for '24-25 starts NOW
2025 admissions planning starts in 3… 2… 1… but where do you start? How do you make next year better? University of Mary Washington and Franciscan University of Steubenville help you get ahead with tips, tricks, and strategies from explaining financial aid to utilizing alumni connections.
College parent expectations for 2024
In our 2024 Family Engagement Report we surveyed 20,487 family members across 46 institutions to find out what they need from their student’s college or university. We chatted recently to sift through the data and bring you up to speed.
What first-generation families want (And how to get it to them)
First-generation families need and want regular communications — they request content at higher frequency and engage more actively. By engaging first-generation families, who in turn will actively advise and support their first-gen students, institutions can create a stronger cycle of education and success. The pros at SUNY Oneonta and University of Alabama share how they do it.
Engage families to decrease summer melt
With financial aid delays leading to decision delays, it’s safe the say summer melt will matter this year more than ever. How are you keeping your admitted students — and their families — engaged, excited, and eager to enroll? Two partners who have seen it and done it — Utah State and New Mexico State — share their experience and advice.
Research Review: Increase family engagement to increase retention
By working with families and giving them a way to access the information they need to help advise their student, institutions can improve student success. In fact, on average, student retention is 8.3% higher for students of parents receiving alerts from CampusESP. We dig into the data with Duquesne University and Drexel University.
Top Trends in Family Engagement for 2024
Our annual look at the biggest trends for family engagement in higher education returns, this year with real data insights from the 9 million families using CampusESP across nearly 400 institutions. Discover the parent engagement benchmarks that matter. Are you on track? Are you ahead of the curve? Are you being passed?
You Can’t Do That in Your CRM: Benefits of a family engagement platform
What makes CampusESP different? Why is parent engagement easier in CampusESP? Why not just build it in your CRM? We walk through the differences and benefits of a built-for-purpose family engagement platform with our friends from Belmont University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Learn the main differences between building parent engagement in your CRM and having us build it for you quicker, better ... and with less risk.
Create a family-focused editorial calendar of content that drives enrollment
In 30 minutes we share some key moments to engage, the topics that should resonate, and guidance on how to turn those ideas into real content that influences your enrollment outcomes. Create an editorial calendar live with us by watching the webinar recording, or read the highlights of how to build your own.