Text Messaging Featured Article

Whenever technology is adopted by the younger generations, the media loves to scrutinize it and create hype when hype isn’t necessary. In the 1990s, it was a bad idea to let students have access to pagers, or beepers. Nowadays students are armed with smartphones as part of their regular wardrobe. Perhaps older generations see these as tools that add to the degeneration of society, but in reality, mobile devices, and particularly text messaging services, are being used for good.

Text messages are the communication du jour amongst millennials, and the generation preceding them has been quick to adopt it, too. Colleges are noticing, so much so that they’re using this tool to gain attention and offer support to students. The College Foundation of West Virginia (CFWV) uses text messaging services to promote college admission to high school seniors, putting students directly in touch with counselors to have questions answered or other college-related inquiries responded to.

Common questions relate to FAFSA, how to pick a major, and how to start the college application process. What CFWV found was that the response has been tremendous, with 57 percent of the seniors in the 14 pilot high schools signing up for the program.

"The project is completely interactive," said Paul Hill, chancellor of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission in a previous report. "When a student texts us a question, they get a response. It's about more than just pushing out information – it's about being a lasting source of counseling and support.

Students in the 14 participating high schools can opt-in to receive text messages that encourage college planning, put them in touch with college counselors, and connect them with college admissions and financial aid officials at Bluefield State College, Concord University, Marshall University and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College.

The importance and prevalence of text messaging is certainly undeniable. This 2008 study placed the monthly volume at over 75 billion. More recently, according to Experian, U.S. smartphone owners aged 18 to 24 send 2,022 texts per month on average — 67 texts on a daily basis — and receive another 1,831.

Text messaging is really a means to achieve and accelerate traditional admissions operations. After a prospect responds to a message, an admissions counselor or coach can begin a one-on-one text messaging dialogue-which the admissions office can monitor.

This can help higher education facilities to quantify results by completing a study of response rates and times.