Parents and families have always had a strong influence on where students choose to study. They may help compare institutions, ask the practical questions a student has not considered yet, contribute financially, visit campuses, and offer the reassurance that turns interest into a confident decision.
That does not mean every family makes decisions in the same way—or that a college should market to parents instead of students. A 2025 survey shared by Unifrog found that 63% of Year 13 students consulted their parents before teachers or peers when making higher education decisions. The finding is specific to that audience, but it reinforces a broader point: for many prospective students, choosing a college or university is a family conversation.
Students and parents often use the same digital channels, but they do not always arrive with the same questions. Students may focus first on program fit, campus life, belonging and independence. Parents may look more closely at total cost, academic quality, safety, support services, housing and what happens after graduation.
The opportunity is not to push parents into the centre of the student’s decision. It is to give them accurate, useful information so they can support the prospective student without taking over the process.
Institutions recruiting across borders should also consider the language, travel, visa, cost and support questions covered in HEM’s guide to targeting parents for international student recruitment.
Here are eight digital approaches colleges and universities can use to connect with the parents and families of prospective students.
1. Build a Dedicated Parent and Family Resource Hub
A parent page should be more than a directory of phone numbers. It should gather the questions families commonly ask and organize them around the stage of the student journey.
A useful prospective-family hub may include:
- Programs and academic opportunities.
- Admissions requirements and important dates.
- Tuition, financial aid, scholarships and payment information.
- Housing, dining and transportation.
- Campus safety and emergency resources.
- Health, accessibility and wellbeing services.
- Career services and graduate outcomes.
- Campus visits, virtual tours and family events.
- A clear route to an admissions adviser.
The University of Texas at Austin offers a strong current example. Its prospective-family page connects families with admissions, programs, housing, financial aid, campus visits and student support while continuing to position the student as the person completing the application journey.
Keep the page easy to find from admissions, tuition, housing and visit pages. Parents should not need to search the entire institutional website to understand how they can help.
2. Use Permission-Based Parent Email and Newsletters
Email still ties many recruitment activities together, but a parent should not be added to a campaign simply because a student provided an emergency contact or family email address.
Invite parents and family members to subscribe directly through:
- Campus-visit registration.
- Webinar and information-session forms.
- A parent resource page.
- Admitted-student events.
- A family newsletter form.
The form should explain what they will receive and how often. Depending on the institution and jurisdiction, consent, privacy and commercial-email requirements may also apply.
Parent emails can address subjects such as:
- How to compare the complete cost of different options.
- Questions to ask during a campus visit.
- How financial aid and payment deadlines work.
- What students should prepare before applying.
- How families can support the transition without managing it for the student.
Keep the parent and student journeys connected in the CRM, but do not treat them as the same contact. HEM’s guide to email marketing for parent and community engagement explores this channel in greater detail.
3. Publish Search-Friendly Articles and FAQs for Families
Parents rarely begin their research by looking for a university blog. They begin with a question.
That question may be:
- How much will this program really cost?
- Is the campus safe?
- What support is available if my student struggles?
- Can first-year students live on campus?
- How does the institution help students find internships?
- What happens if an applicant misses a document deadline?
Articles, checklists and FAQ pages can answer these questions in plain language, then connect readers with the relevant program, admissions or support page.
Cost content deserves particular care. In the United States, a net price calculator estimates what students with similar circumstances paid after grants and scholarships, which is more useful than presenting tuition alone. Institutions should explain what the estimate includes, what it does not include and where a family can ask questions.
Date information that can change, name the responsible office and link to the official source. A helpful parent article should reduce uncertainty, not create another version of a policy that becomes inaccurate six months later.
4. Use Video and Virtual Experiences to Answer Practical Questions
Video allows families to see spaces and hear from people they may not meet during an initial website visit.
Useful parent-oriented video topics include:
- A residence and dining tour.
- An introduction to campus safety resources.
- A conversation with financial aid staff.
- A guide to academic advising and tutoring.
- A current parent reflecting on the transition.
- A student explaining what support they actually used.
- A faculty member describing how students learn in the program.
A short, specific video is often more useful than a polished institutional montage. Families should come away with an answer to a real question.
Provide accurate captions, a transcript and a clear link to the information discussed. The connected webpage and media controls should also follow current web accessibility guidance. Avoid making a video the only place where an important deadline, cost or requirement appears.
5. Host Webinars and Live Question-and-Answer Sessions
Webinars give parents access to staff from admissions, financial aid, housing, student services and academic departments without requiring a campus visit.
Rather than trying to cover everything in one long presentation, organize sessions around specific decisions:
- Understanding tuition, aid and payment.
- Helping a student prepare a strong application.
- Housing, dining and moving away from home.
- Academic support and first-year success.
- Career preparation and work-integrated learning.
- International travel, arrival and student support.
Collect questions in advance, use a moderator and make it clear which answers are general guidance rather than advice about an individual application. Recordings can become useful on-demand resources when they are captioned, dated and reviewed before being reused for a later intake.
On-campus events can also include parent-specific sessions while students explore classrooms, clubs or residences. HEM’s current guide to higher education open days includes ideas for addressing parent questions without making the whole visit about them.
6. Use Social Media and Family Communities Carefully
The original instinct behind parent Facebook pages and Twitter accounts was sound: meet families where they already spend time. What has changed is the platform mix.
Do not create a separate account simply because another institution has one. Review where parents actually engage with your content, whether the team can maintain the channel and what purpose it will serve.
Potential approaches include:
- Parent-focused posts within the main institutional account.
- Short videos answering common family questions.
- Live social sessions around admissions or financial aid.
- Moderated groups for admitted-student families.
- Country- or language-specific communities where appropriate.
Private groups need clear moderation rules. Staff should explain who manages the community, what information is appropriate to share and where official answers can be found. A social group should complement the institutional website, not become the only source of essential information.
Parents may also create unofficial groups. Institutions should be careful not to present those spaces as official or imply that every post has been verified.
7. Make Direct Help Easy to Find
Some questions are too personal or complicated for a webpage. Give families an obvious route to a real person through:
- Live chat.
- Scheduled adviser appointments.
- A parent or family telephone line.
- A shared admissions email address.
- Virtual office hours.
Staff can answer general questions about programs, costs, housing, deadlines and support. They should also know when they cannot discuss a student’s application or record without the student’s authorization.
In the United States, FERPA rights generally transfer from parents to the student when the student turns 18 or attends a postsecondary institution. A helpful family communication strategy must therefore distinguish between welcoming parents and granting access to private student information.
Set expectations before a conversation begins. A parent should understand what the adviser can answer, what the student needs to request directly and how the student can authorize another person where institutional policy permits it.
8. Connect Parent Communications Across the Student Journey
A prospective-family page is a good start, but family questions change after admission.
Before application, parents may focus on fit, cost, safety and outcomes. After an offer, attention moves to deposits, housing, registration, orientation and travel. Once the student is enrolled, families may need general resources about academic support, health, billing, emergencies and student privacy.
A parent and family portal can bring these resources together. It may include:
- Stage-specific news and reminders.
- Orientation registration.
- Calendars and major dates.
- Housing and move-in guidance.
- Financial and payment information.
- Emergency contacts.
- Links to student-support services.
- Permission and privacy information.
UT Austin, for example, uses a parent and family portal for admitted-family updates and orientation registration while keeping student processes separate.
Do not confuse a family portal with access to the student’s private record. The student should remain in control of permissions, and the portal should explain those boundaries clearly.
What Information Matters Most to Parents?
The exact priorities will vary by audience, program, age, country and funding situation. Research your own families rather than relying on a universal parent persona.
Across many recruitment journeys, however, parents frequently need clear information about:
- Complete cost: tuition, fees, housing, transportation, insurance, books and likely additional expenses.
- Academic quality: program structure, accreditation, faculty, learning support and progression expectations.
- Safety and wellbeing: campus security, health services, counselling, accessibility and emergency procedures.
- Student support: advising, tutoring, career services, international support and accommodation.
- Outcomes: completion, employment, further study, licensing and career pathways, presented with context.
- Process: application steps, deadlines, documents, deposits and who to contact when something goes wrong.
Do not force parents to interpret marketing slogans when what they need is a direct answer.
Keep the Prospective Student at the Centre
Parent communication works best when it helps families support the student’s independence.
Speak to parents directly, but do not imply that they should complete the application, choose the program or manage every interaction on the student’s behalf. Give students and families complementary information, and make it clear when the student needs to take the next step.
This balance is particularly important for adult learners, graduate students, transfer students, international applicants and students whose main supporter may be a partner, sibling, guardian, sponsor or trusted adviser rather than a parent.
“Parents and families” is usually more inclusive than assuming every prospective student has the same household structure.
Measure Whether Parent Engagement Supports Enrollment
Page views and newsletter opens are useful, but they do not show whether parent communications improve the student journey.
Useful measures may include:
- Visits to parent and family resources.
- Newsletter subscriptions and engagement.
- Webinar registrations and attendance.
- Campus-visit participation by family members.
- Clicks from family content to program, cost and admissions pages.
- Questions resolved by chat, phone or appointments.
- Student applications, deposits and enrollments associated with family engagement.
- Feedback from students and families after enrollment.
When the CRM records both a student and a family contact, define the relationship carefully and avoid counting the two people as separate student leads. Record consent, communication preferences and permissions separately.
The goal is not to send more content to parents. It is to remove uncertainty, answer important questions and help the student make a well-informed decision.
Frequently Asked Questions About Communicating With Parents
Should colleges market directly to parents?
Yes, when parents or family members are important participants in the decision. The prospective student should remain the primary audience, while parent communications address the practical questions families use to provide advice and support.
What information do parents of prospective students want?
Common priorities include total cost, financial aid, academic quality, safety, housing, student support, career outcomes, application steps and important deadlines. Institutions should confirm priorities through their own research rather than assuming every family is the same.
Should a school create a separate parent website?
A dedicated parent and family hub is useful when it makes important information easier to find. It does not always need to be a separate domain or microsite. A well-organized section within the main website is often easier to maintain and keeps institutional information consistent.
Can admissions staff discuss an application with a parent?
Staff can usually answer general questions, but access to an individual student’s information depends on applicable law, institutional policy and the student’s authorization. In the United States, FERPA rights generally transfer to the student at age 18 or when the student attends a postsecondary institution.
Which channel is best for reaching parents?
There is no universal best channel. A strong mix may include a parent resource hub, permission-based email, search-friendly FAQs, video, webinars, social content and direct adviser access. Choose channels using audience behaviour and measured results.
How should schools communicate costs to families?
Show tuition together with mandatory fees and likely living expenses, explain scholarships and aid, provide a current net price or cost-estimation tool where applicable, and make it easy to contact a qualified financial aid or admissions representative.
How can schools measure parent engagement?
Track parent-resource visits, subscriptions, event attendance, questions, adviser interactions and movement to student actions such as applications, deposits and enrollments. Link family contacts carefully in the CRM so they are not counted as separate student leads.
Help Families Support a Confident Student Decision
The channels used to reach parents are not radically different from those used to reach prospective students. The difference lies in the questions, context and voice.
Parents and families want evidence that the institution is credible, affordable, supportive and prepared to help the student succeed. When schools provide that information clearly—without sidelining the student or crossing privacy boundaries—family influence can become a positive part of the recruitment journey.
Which parent and family communication channels are most effective for your institution?
