South Alabama increased yield 23.5 percentage points for students with engaged family members and saw a 276% rise in orientation confirmations. Learn how CampusESP unified communications, scaled FERPA connections, and guided families through the student lifecycle.

Morgan State and Morehouse show how intentional family engagement and campus communication tools can transform Black student success. Learn how HBCU leaders use CampusESP to align enrollment, orientation, financial aid, and career outcomes with what families need most.

Summit 2026 is a wrap! 156 attendees from 104 institutions descended on Philadelphia for two days of customer stories, peer swapping, and straight talk about what's working in family engagement. From AI assistants fielding 3am parent questions to schools finally fixing their clunkiest processes, here are the four takeaways worth borrowing for your own campus.

Deliver instant, personalized support while offering deeper insight into what families need most. Beta tested across 9,000 parent interactions at 25 colleges and universities, our AI Assistant was designed specifically for the front lines of college family engagement.

Planning Family Weekend? We know it’s not all smiles and selfies—behind the scenes, it’s a full-blown production! From getting the word out to managing check-ins and everything in between, pulling off a smooth Family Weekend takes serious hustle. Check out how CampusESP makes it easier to plan, promote, and actually enjoy one of your campus’s biggest events.

New data on how families communicate, what they expect, and where most institutions still aren't keeping up.

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A chaotic move-in day became a turning point for Flagler College. By rebuilding trust with families through smarter communication, they reduced summer melt by 4% and dramatically improved payment and retention outcomes.

Text messages drive up to 3x higher engagement than email, yet most colleges still underuse them. Learn how Marymount University and New Mexico State University are turning everyday communications into timely, action-driving texts.

Orientation is a high-impact moment for families, but it can also be overwhelming. FSU turned three days of information into a lasting resource with their New Nole Orientation Hub, extending support well beyond move-in.

New research from nine universities and more than 20,000 students shows that when families are engaged, students are more likely to stay enrolled. In this year’s CampusESP retention case study, students with a connected parent saw 6.9 percentage points higher retention than those without.

WSSU’s culture of “Ramily” extends beyond students to the families who support them. Learn how the university partnered with CampusESP to create a centralized family engagement strategy that supports students from admissions through graduation, resulting in students with engaged families yielding rates 5 points higher than average.

University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) research found students with high family engagement were 2.65x more likely to be retained, reinforcing family engagement as a measurable higher education retention strategy.

Early communication sets the tone for first-gen success. See how Montclair State University and Southern Oregon University are making thoughtful, strategic shifts in communication that help first-gen support feel personal, accessible, and culturally aware.

FAU launched a new orientation reservation system for students and families in just 4 weeks and achieved a 21% increase in reservations within the first two weeks.

As Montclair’s Latinx and international student populations surged, the university recognized that an English-only orientation left many families behind.

AI talk is everywhere in higher ed. And yeah, it can sound like one more complicated, overwhelming thing on your plate. But here’s the good news: AI doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, it can actually make your life easier and your family engagement efforts stronger.

This year’s FAFSA is smoother but success depends on more than system updates. Collaboration and consistent communication are what help families feel confident, informed, and supported throughout one of higher education’s most stressful processes.

Families don’t care what office sends the email. And they shouldn’t have to. Every outreach from a college should feel like one voice: clear, consistent, and focused on student success.

Louisiana State University, The University of Kansas, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and Webster University piloted our newest feature. They saw big gains in parent engagement, while spending only 30 mins a month managing it!

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.