Building communities that actually meet families’ needs
Families are looking for information and trusted answers about their student’s college journey, but they also want meaningful connections and a stronger sense of community throughout the process.
According to the 2026 CampusESP College Family Survey, only 30% of parents are satisfied with their opportunities to connect with other families. At the same time, 78% say a family portal is valuable, compared with just 47% who say the same about Facebook groups.
Discussion Boards in CampusESP bring those connections into the family portal, creating dedicated spaces for questions, sharing experiences, and peer support, all within a secure, campus-supported environment.
Discussion Board activity can also contribute to Parent Promoter Score™, a 0–100 measure of family engagement that helps enrollment teams see which families are leaning in and where a timely nudge may help.
In the last year, 163 colleges have used CampusESP Discussion Boards to spark more than 25,000 exchanges.
What that looks like can vary by institution. The University of Kansas, George Washington University, and Drexel University each use Discussion Boards in unique ways to make trusted information and family connections easier to access.
University of Kansas uses family Discussion Boards to turn prospective parent questions into enrollment insights
The University of Kansas uses Discussion Boards to host live Ask Me Anything sessions, opportunities for families to submit questions to campus experts during dedicated timeframes.
Admissions and family engagement staff support these sessions behind the scenes, and the answers remain available on the Discussion Board so families can reference them later. Instead of answering the same question repeatedly, KU creates a resource that benefits the entire community.
The boards have also become a place for peer-to-peer connection. Families have found others from their home state, connected around upcoming campus visits, and reassured one another during moments of uncertainty — especially as parents prepare to send their students away for the first time.
KU intentionally allows families to support and converse with one another before stepping in, unless a question requires an official response or misinformation needs to be corrected.
CampusESP allows institutions to assign Trusted Contributor badges to specific users, helping families identify reliable guidance from parent ambassadors, volunteers, or other trusted members of the community.
"On average, we spend 30 minutes a week monitoring our Discussion Boards. It doesn't take up a ton of time, but we check it regularly to make sure families have the support they need." - Danielle Dreeszen, Associate Director Enrollment Marketing: Undergraduate
Beyond engagement, the conversations provide KU with useful insights into what families need. When families repeatedly asked about an admitted-student event in Houston, the team used that feedback to inform future planning — ultimately leading to the addition of a new event.
For KU, Discussion Boards accomplish more than answering questions. They’re helping families find trusted information, connect with one another, and giving the enrollment team a clearer view of what families want next.
George Washington University uses Discussion Boards to make verified information easier to find for families
George Washington University initially launched broad Discussion Boards for its more than 30,000 family members and supporters, including a Family Forum and space for family tips and advice.
But the team quickly realized families weren’t looking for another Facebook-style feed, especially when only 28% trust parent Facebook groups as a reliable source of college information. Instead, GW parents used Discussion Boards as a consolidated resource for trusted answers.
“They treated Discussion Boards more like Reddit,” said Dr. Laci Alison, Assistant Dean for Family Engagement.
Rather than scrolling through a Facebook-style feed, families came to the boards with specific, practical questions and looked for useful answers from people with relevant, firsthand experience, more like Reddit. This was especially true around key transition moments like commencement and move-out.
Senior families asked about graduation policies and logistics. Move-out brought questions about storage and other details families needed to help their students prepare. In many cases, the information already existed online — it just wasn’t easy to find.
“It’s all on the website. But no one ever seems to find it. So we reshared all that information within Discussion Boards.” – Dr. Laci Alison, Assistant Dean for Family Engagement
Pinned posts help keep that kind of timely information front and center, so families can find important details without digging through older conversations.
With nearly one in three families saying it’s difficult to find college information on their own, GW uses Discussion Boards to surface information when families need it — making resources easier to discover while reducing reliance on cluttered webpages or unmoderated Facebook groups.
Drexel University builds a trusted Discussion Board community for neurodivergent students’ families
For some families, connection with others who share similar experiences is what makes them feel confident in their student’s college choice and chances at success.
Drexel University’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity (CAN) supports 155 students through academic and employment coaching, peer mentoring, social programming, and other resources. The team also works closely with parents as they navigate how to support their student while encouraging independence.
The CAN wanted a more scalable way to support families beyond answering individual questions by phone. Their priorities were clear: create more structure, establish boundaries, protect privacy, and provide a space where families could learn from one another.
CAN built a dedicated parent community within the Drexel Family Portal, using a Discussion Board to provide families with a trusted place to ask questions, connect with other parents, and receive guidance from staff — with clear guidelines around privacy, FERPA, and respectful conversation.
Although CampusESP supports AI moderation, communities that need an added level of oversight can also choose to manually review posts and comments before they are published.
The team also encourages families to support one another, rather than relying solely on staff responses.
Parents have shared advice about money management, academic tutoring, and why their student chose Drexel. That focused approach drives strong engagement:
292 parents are part of the CAN community
Communications average a 73% open rate and 24% click rate, compared with Drexel’s overall averages of 69% and 16%
Families have generated 85 interactions since October, including 16 posts and 69 comments
For Drexel’s CAN, Discussion Boards have created a meaningful support network where families learn, connect, and feel less alone throughout their student’s journey.
More ways colleges are tailoring Discussion Boards to their families
The strongest Discussion Boards are built around the specific questions, identities, and moments that matter most to a campus community. Beyond KU, GW, and Drexel, other institutions are using that flexibility to create spaces around the audiences and topics their families care about most.
Louisiana State University's First-Generation Families board gives first-gen parents a dedicated place to connect throughout the year, with engagement picking up around moments like move-in. A targeted welcome email helps new members understand the purpose of the space and brings the right families into the conversation early.
Texas State University takes a more topic-driven approach with its Payments & Deadlines board. Families can ask questions about registration, payment plans, move-in, and other timely topics, while evergreen posts stay pinned at the top so important information is easy to find.
A Discussion Board can support a specific population, a shared interest, or a moment in the student journey. The best starting point is not “What board should we create?” but “Where would our families benefit most from finding trusted answers or each other?”
