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Looking to provide better support to students, ESM is guiding colleges and universities through its communication strategies, the company has announced.

The company has released a white paper named, “Five Ways to Customize Your Communication Strategies to Maximize Recruitment and Retention,” in this regard.

As more than a third of people under age 35 – including about half of those age 25 to 29 – have only cell phones, no land line, it is becoming more important that colleges look across alternative contact strategies to reach students. Also, young adults aged 18-24 average nearly 800 text messages per month, and approximately 96 percent of 18-35 year olds are on a social network, the company stated in a press release.

“Students’ needs are changing as many come to college with higher expectations, and most have fused technology into their everyday lives – a one-size-fits-all communications solution doesn’t work,” said Murray Smith, author of the white paper and chief marketing officer of ESM. “While some students are more likely to communicate through text messages, some might prefer to interact through social media, and others will warrant a live phone conversation to fully engage with the institution.”

In order to fully engage them from inquiry to graduation, schools need to communicate with students as often as possible. A school’s communication approach must facilitate meaningful personal contact, and that will vary from student to student. Schools will be better equipped to provide a more personalized experience, by implementing communication strategies that meet the unique needs of each student.

Recently, the company expanded its services to include loan counseling support to help students repay their loans, as well as analytics services to help schools understand, forecast, and manage their Cohort Default Rates (CDRs). These services are becoming increasingly important as post-secondary schools focus on helping students graduate and repay loans incurred in financing their education. According to the company, students who stay in school repay their loans at three times the rate of those who drop out.