Parents Text Back: Why SMS Is the Secret Weapon in Your Yield Strategy

At my last institution, we had a real challenge: students just weren’t completing their enrollment forms. Counselors were calling, emails were going out daily, and portal reminders were non-stop—but nothing seemed to move the needle.

That’s when I had a moment of clarity—what if the key wasn't reaching out to the student, but their parent?

The Reality of Our Role in Enrollment

There’s this ideal in higher ed that students should completely drive their college search and enrollment process—and yes, that’s a noble goal.

But let’s be honest: not every high schooler is checking their email or forms regularly. I mean, as a mother myself, I know she won’t always stay on top of things. And spoiler alert, it doesn’t change much when they hit their teens.

So why not use that to our advantage? Parents influence the process anyway; it just makes sense to make their lives easier and tap into that.

Why texts? They work.

1. Parents want texts—and colleges aren’t delivering. A recent CampusESP survey of 20,487 parents found that 42% of families want text messages from institutions—but only 18% currently receive them.

   
   

2. Texting works—especially for enrollment tasks. Behavioral science consistently shows that timely texts nudging students (e.g., FAFSA, deposit reminders) significantly boost enrollment rates, even by 8% in community college pilots .
   

3. Low-income and multilingual households benefit most: Research shows first-gen, Hispanic, Black, and lower-income families prefer texts and engage higher via SMS.

How We Designed Our Parent SMS Strategy

We launched an SMS plan to support the form-completion phase. Here’s how it looked:

• One week before the deadline, the student received a text reminding them what was missing, including a link to submit.

• Three days out, if they still hadn’t completed the form, the student got one last reminder—and if nothing happened, we looped in the parent or guardian (if we had their mobile number).

The result? A wave of student submissions—and even replies—from parents saying, “Thanks for the reminder!” So much so, that after the first text was successful, we carefully scheduled the remaining to make sure they fell when our counseling team was available, because of the high influx of responses.

The experience taught us several things that impacted our strategy moving forward, too.

• Timing matters. Consistency during the workweek got the most traction. Parents were on their phones and more accessible.

• Parents want clarity. They responded positively, appreciating the nudge.

• Agencies for students. We gave students two chances to take action themselves. If they didn't, we activated their adult support system.

The payoff? More completed forms, fewer missed deadlines, and, likely, fewer melt issues. It was almost effortless once the system was set up.

Text messaging doesn’t feel invasive when it’s helpful. It’s your whole family working together toward a common outcome—and it builds trust, not frustration.

By integrating parents into the process—thoughtfully and in line with FERPA rules—you're actually giving students a safety net. And by keeping students first, you’re empowering them to take control, with their parent backing them if needed.

That kind of balanced partnership improves engagement and keeps on-time enrollment high.

It’s a win-win.

Next Steps for Your Parent SMS Strategy

1. Ask for parent phone numbers early. Include it in your inquiry or admit forms and be clear how you'll use it: "We'll only text when it's something important--like upcoming deadlines or before your student misses a deadline."

2. Set timing reminders thoughtfully. Start at one week out from deadlines or key moments, then escalate to a parent reminder a few days before, giving students space to act first.

3. Craft smart, empath-based messages. Messages should be clear and actionable, but also human. Maybe it's something like, "“Hi [Parent-Name], it's [Counselor] from [School]. I know how busy [Student's Name] probably is right now so I wanted to give you a quick nudge that [Student First Name] still needs to submit [Form Name] by [Date]. Here’s the link if they need it.!"

4. Track and iterate. Pay attention to response rates, timing, and form completion trends.

What felt like a small nudge turned into a quiet powerhouse. SMS became the unsung hero behind our enrollment efforts, giving parents the tools to support their student at the right time and giving students the responsibility to rise before their backup kicked in.

And if this sounds like something you’d like to explore, I’d love to help. Because in this case, the smallest message can make the biggest difference.