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It already feels like the dog days of summer, even though we haven’t quite reached the midpoint. As the temperatures climb, I’m increasingly looking forward to the University of Leeds Online Learning Summit 2025 in just under a month. It promises to be a great opportunity to explore the future of online learning, and enjoy some cooler weather.
But what did I read this week?
Never on a Saturday
Mongoose recently published a benchmark report on the State of Higher Education Messaging, offering some interesting insights. Drawing on anonymized data from their users, the report analyzed patterns in messaging usage, content, and resolution across four key areas: admissions, student success, advancement and alumni relations, and two-year institutions more generally.
The findings revealed striking differences across these areas in several dimensions:
When users were most likely to respond to text messages
The kinds of topics being discussed
Resolution rates by topic area
Sentiment in response to different types of messages
In areas like student success, many of the conversations appeared to be primarily transactional, for example, confirming appointments and resolving logistical issues. I'm not surprised that “academics” ranked low as a topic, but I do wish Mongoose had broken down the “other” category to give us a clearer picture of what students are actually concerned about.
It’s possible that some of the issues grouped under “other” relate to financial aid and IT problems—areas where four-year institutions seem to be performing poorly when it comes to resolving concerns raised through the messaging platform. While lower, the lack of resolution of mental health issues should be a four alarm warning.
It’s encouraging to see institutions using messaging platforms, but the data suggests they need to do a much better job of responding both appropriately and thoroughly. Creating a channel for students to raise concerns—without following through to resolve them—may arguably be worse than not offering a channel at all.
