The Blog
Whether you're just starting or scaling, the trends, tips, and to-dos to improve your parent engagement strategy.
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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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Student retention increases 8.3% with parent engagement
CampusESP’s annual exploratory study looks at the connection between family engagement and student retention. Our 2024 release looks at 12,374 first-time, first-year students that enrolled at nine universities in the Fall of 2022 and returned for the following Fall 2023 term. On average, student retention was 8.3% higher for students of parents receiving alerts from CampusESP.
William & Mary scores time savings and increases open rates with custom family newsletters
William & Mary’s monthly class-year newsletters provide tailored content to families. Sounds like a lift, but their team has been able to reduce the time it takes to create the newsletters by 75% while improving open rates by 4%. Check out how their smart use of CampusESP features and dedication to community and engagement is taking their strategy to a new level!
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.
Reach fundraising goals with strategic family engagement
Parents should be a central part of your fundraising strategy. Stacey Muzzi from University of Delaware and Kyra Lyons from The Catholic University of America joined us to discuss three ways that strategic family engagement has helped them cultivate parents into donors, increase donor participation, and identify major gift prospects.
Duquesne University’s full lifecycle family engagement strategy increases student enrollment and retention
Three divisions at Duquesne — Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications, and Student Life — are all dedicated to a larger initiative to increase student retention at the university. In 2021, Duquesne turned to CampusESP to communicate with both prospective and current families.
NAU drives assistance for food insecure students through family engagement
An announcement to families about SNAP benefits made a big impact — it connected students in need with necessary resources and spurred conversations across campus on how they could better serve their students. Read how the team at NAU is working social impact initiatives into the family engagement strategy.
Family engagement correlates with higher student retention at University of North Georgia
UNG found a correlation between how often a family member received newsletters from CampusESP and student retention. Dig into their story and the data that supports why you should communicate with families consistently.
4 takeaways from the CampusESP Summit to guide your family engagement strategy
Whether you were able to join us for the CampusESP Summit or not, read on for four major themes that came to the forefront — and use these learnings to help guide and improve your family engagement strategy for 2024!
How 6 institutions increased student enrollment with strategic parent engagement
Parents are students' #1 influencers. Now we have the proof. We analyzed data from 6 institutions using CampusESP to study the impact of parent engagement on student enrollment. Get the breakdown of our top findings from the research!
Dordt welcomes largest first-year class ever by scaling family engagement
Dordt University brought in their largest first-year class ever! Plus, prospective Dordt students with a parent using CampusESP had yield rates 13% higher than average. Learn about how Dordt improved their yield with family engagement.
Two-Year College Parent Playbook: 9 topics to inspire your content strategy
We analyzed engagement data from over 18,000 two-year college parents to understand what information they’re looking for most. Use this playbook to not only engage families and supporters, but help them become partners in student success
4 best practices (from 3 HSIs!) to engage Spanish-speaking families
Hispanic enrollment at four-year institutions increased by 287% between 2000 and 2020! Read on for four best practices to engage Spanish-speaking families, based on advice from 3 HSIs doing this well: Northern Arizona University, Texas Woman’s University, and New Mexico State University.
CampusESP welcomes customer 350: St. John’s University
It’s time to celebrate another amazing parent engagement milestone! St. John’s University is expanding their focus on families. And in tandem, we’re welcoming our 350th customer! Learn more about St. John’s strategy and our new partnership.
University of West Georgia’s successful FERPA Management implementation from an IT perspective
University of West Georgia integrated student data from their SIS to launch CampusESP for FERPA Management. UWG’s Applications Programmer reflects on the successful implementation process, maintenance, and results from his perspective on the IT team.
4 resources to help prepare families for FAFSA changes
FAFSA changes are coming! We sit down with the Department of Education to learn more about the Better FAFSA, the resources available for universities, and how to help your families with the new format this fall.
What 12,000 prospective parents want from enrollment teams
CampusESP and RNL recently surveyed over 12,000 parents of prospective college students – the largest survey of its kind to date – to find out what they really want. Read on for our top six takeaways from the 2023 Prospective Family Report and use these learnings to inform how you leverage parent influence in the enrollment process to improve results.
4 tips to set up first-year families for success
Kennesaw State University and College of Charleston joined us to share how they’ve helped first-year families have a strong start to the school year. Here are their four tips to guide families in those critical first several weeks and set them – and their students – up for success!
5 steps Catholic University took to secure a major gift through parent engagement
Catholic University leveraged strategic parent communication and data captured in CampusESP to grow their Parents Council and donor pool … and secured a $50,000 gift from a major gift prospect. Here are the five strategies the team utilized to keep engagement high and bring this gift to fruition.
Jumpstart your enrollment cycle in 4 easy ways
Pacific Lutheran University experienced a very successful enrollment cycle this year. Their Dean of Admission shared her strategies on how to engage families over the summer to increase visits, applications, and enrollment! Here are four easy ways to jumpstart your enrollment cycle.
Northern Arizona University’s 3 tips to engage Spanish-speaking families with intention
NAU prioritizes access and inclusion for all families, so providing content in Spanish in their family portal was imperative. Get NAU’s top 3 tips to support Spanish-speaking families that can apply for any campus looking to expand their own strategy.