Frequently asked questions.
Everything universities, students, and student-success teams ask before they sign on. If yours isn't here, just write us.
Common questions.
What is Journey? +
Journey is an SMS-first retention platform built for universities. Three texts a week land in the student's phone, calibrated to their goals, their schedule, and what's actually happening in their semester. Students reply. The student-success team sees the signal in Microsoft Teams. Leadership gets a board-ready retention number every month.
How is Journey different from the LMS or my CRM? +
Your LMS and CRM talk at students. Journey listens. The platform meets students on SMS — the only channel they actually answer — and routes their replies to the staff and resources you already have on campus. No new dashboard, no new password, no fight with IT.
Where should I start? +
Start with the UNH case study. 100 students, one semester, 50% → 94% high-risk retention. Then book a 30-minute call from the contact page — we'll map the playbook to your campus.
How long does it take to launch a pilot? +
Two weeks. Week one: discovery call, identify the cohort, set the goals. Week two: SMS opt-ins go out, staff get the Teams panel, first nudges calibrate to real student replies. Week eight: first board-ready readout.
Do students have to download an app? +
No. Journey works over SMS — the messaging app every student already has. No download, no login, no notifications to ignore. They text back like they would a friend.
For students.
How often does Journey text? +
Three texts a week, never the same three days. The exact timing tunes to the student's reply patterns — a midnight reply earns a morning check-in, a quiet week earns a gentler nudge.
What does Journey ask about? +
During onboarding the student picks one goal from: make friends + connections, stay healthy (mind + body + sleep), or stress less / mental peace. Nudges follow the goal — and adapt as the semester moves.
Can students opt out? +
Yes — any time, just by texting STOP. They can also pause for a week with PAUSE and resume whenever they're ready.
Will Journey send me ads or sell my data? +
No. Journey never advertises and never sells data. Student replies stay on the student's record and are only visible to their assigned student-success staff — and only after the student gives consent.
For student-success staff.
How does Journey integrate with Microsoft Teams? +
A Journey panel installs in Teams as a native app. Staff type a student name and get the health score, top risk, last contact, and the recommended next step in five seconds — no new dashboard to learn.
Does Journey replace my CARE team or counselors? +
Never. Journey augments human support. The platform surfaces the right students at the right moment and routes them to the people already on campus — CAPS, CDC, advising, the dean's office — with the line to open the conversation with.
What if a student is in crisis at 2 AM? +
Crisis triggers are detected in real time and routed immediately to your on-call staff via your existing escalation protocol. Journey also surfaces same-day CAPS slots when the student gives permission to book.
Can I drop in notes from in-person meetings? +
Yes. Add a note to a student's thread inside Teams. The note becomes part of the unified thread your whole CARE team can see, search, and reference — replacing the spreadsheet handoff.
For university leadership.
What numbers will I get to show the board? +
A monthly one-pager and a semester board deck. Retention number, wellbeing trend, intervention outcomes, and your AI deployment story — already packaged. UNH's pilot moved high-risk retention from 50% to 94% across 100 students.
What's the ROI? +
UNH's $15K pilot preserved $1.1M in tuition revenue across the cohort — 73× ROI in one semester. Annualized, the number doubles.
Will procurement and IT slow this down? +
No. The pilot runs on a standard MSA and the platform sits on top of what you already own — no new logins, no integrations that touch protected systems. Most pilots launch in two weeks from the discovery call.
Trust & privacy.
Is Journey FERPA-compliant? +
Yes. Journey is FERPA-ready and SOC 2 certification is in progress. The platform follows the same student-data protections your existing systems are required to meet.
Who can see student replies? +
Only the student's assigned staff — and only after the student consents to the handoff. Replies are never shared with marketing, advertisers, or third parties.
How is data stored? +
Encrypted in transit and at rest, on infrastructure that meets institutional standards. Students can request export or deletion of their data at any time.
Pricing & rollout.
How much does the pilot cost? +
$15K for a 100-student, one-semester pilot. The same pricing UNH ran. After the pilot, full-cohort pricing scales with your enrollment — request a quote from the contact page.
What's included in the pilot price? +
Everything: SMS infrastructure, Teams panel access for staff, the monthly board readout, calibration support, and a semester-end case study you can present to your trustees.
Can we scale beyond the pilot mid-semester? +
Yes. Most universities expand cohort coverage one semester at a time. UNH went from 100 students to 1,800 between fall '25 and fall '26 — no new procurement cycle.
Support & integrations.
What systems does Journey integrate with? +
Microsoft Teams (native panel), Banner, Workday, Canvas, Starfish, Navigate, OneStop, and most major student-information systems. If you have it, Journey can sit on top.
Who do I talk to when something breaks? +
Direct email to [email protected]. Pilot customers get a dedicated point of contact and a one-business-day response SLA.
Do you offer staff training? +
Yes. A 45-minute training for the CARE team is included with every pilot — the Teams panel is intuitive enough that most staff are productive in five minutes, but the training covers the routing logic and escalation protocols.
Still have a question?
Email [email protected] and someone on our team will reply within one business day.