12 advanced tools for student engagement to boost retention rates

It’s no secret: student engagement is a mission-critical strategy for improving student and institutional outcomes. 

At a time when higher ed institutions are navigating shifting demographics, enrollment declines, and post-pandemic burnout, keeping students connected is more important than ever. But genuine engagement takes more than sending emails or posting on the LMS. It’s about creating timely, personalized, and accessible moments that show students “you belong here.”

Luckily, today’s tech landscape offers powerful tools to help institutions do just that. From AI-powered platforms to peer-to-peer connection apps, these tools are designed to help Enrollment, Advising, and Student Affairs teams build relationships that stick and ultimately, drive greater retention. 

In this blog, we’ll walk through 12 advanced student engagement tools designed to keep students informed, involved, and inspired to succeed.

Student engagement is a retention superpower. Here’s why.

Disengaged students are far more likely to stop out or drop out. National research shows that more than one in four first-year college students don’t return for their second year. 

The reasons are complex, ranging from academic pressure, mental health, financial strain, but there’s a common thread: they didn’t feel supported.

When students feel seen, connected, and guided, their sense of belonging increases. They’re more likely to show up, complete coursework, and persist through challenges. Student engagement helps you catch risks earlier, create meaningful touchpoints, and deliver the kinds of interactions that motivate students to stay.

And here’s the good news: engagement at scale is possible. The right tools can help institutions reach students where they are—on their phones, online, and in their moments of need—without overburdening staff.

What to look for in student engagement tools

If you’re evaluating your engagement tech stack, start with your student and your staff in mind. Tools should be scalable enough to serve thousands of students, yet personal enough to feel one-on-one. AI and automation can help teams reach students with relevant messages and support, without adding more manual work.

Look for platforms that prioritize mobile-first experiences, integrate cleanly with your existing systems like your SIS, CRM, LMS and ERP, and deliver data you can act on. Most importantly, they should serve multiple teams throughout the institution so that no one’s working in silos and students receive consistent, timely guidance.

So, to summarize, look for tools that are:

• Scalable, so high-touch feels personal—across thousands.
• AI-powered & personalized, adapting communication based on behavior and needs
• Mobile-first, reaching students on devices they use daily.
• Cross-departmental, benefitting Advising, Student Affairs, and Enrollment teams.
• Data-driven, offering analytics to prove impact on retention.
• Integration-ready, easily syncing with systems like Slate, Ellucian Banner, or your SIS.

12 advanced tools for student engagement (& why they work)

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork for what student engagement tools are, why they’re important for retention and ultimately, institutional outcomes, let’s get into specific examples and how they can help.

1. Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty

When it comes to student engagement, few tools offer the scope and depth of Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty. This AI-powered student engagement platform delivers 24/7 student support across your institution’s most critical departments, from Admissions and Financial Aid to Advising and Student Life.

Ivy & Ocelot ensures that students get answers and direction exactly when they need it without waiting in line, submitting a ticket, or navigating a confusing website through:

• AI-powered, tailored chatbots
• live chat
• automated SMS campaigns
• dynamic knowledge base

Institutions using the platform report significant reductions in summer melt, improved FAFSA completion, and better visibility into student concerns.

Impactful student engagement goes beyond just communication – it’s about building real and lasting connections. Ivy & Ocelot can send proactive reminders about deadlines, missing forms, or events, helping students take action before problems escalate. And for staff, the platform frees up time by handling routine questions, so teams can focus on high-touch support where it matters most.

Take a virtual tour of Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty

• Best for: The entire administrative team—Admissions, Financial Aid, Advising & Student Life
• How it helps:

• 24/7 accurate answers across channels
• Proactive nudges (deadlines, appointments, next steps)
• Reduces staff burnout—staff only address complex cases

2. Suitable

Suitable brings gamification to student engagement by helping students track co-curricular involvement, earn digital badges, and explore curated pathways toward career readiness. The platform turns engagement into a visual journey; students can see their growth, celebrate milestones, and share achievements with potential employers.

Student Affairs and Career Services teams use Suitable to create structured learning outside the classroom, encouraging consistent participation in events, programs, and leadership opportunities. It’s a modern take on the student involvement transcript, and it’s designed to make students want to participate.

• Best for: Student Affairs, Career Centers
• How it helps: Encourages consistent participation, links activities to job market outcomes, strengthens campus community.

3. Presence

Presence is a campus engagement platform that helps Student Affairs teams manage events, monitor participation, and analyze involvement data in real time. Students can browse events on their phones, RSVP in one tap, and scan in at check-in.

Behind the scenes, staff get insights into which programs drive the most impact, and which student groups may need more outreach. With integrations into campus systems, Presence ties co-curricular engagement back to learning outcomes and retention indicators.

• Best for: Student Affairs & Campus Life
• How it helps: Tracks involvement, reports on retention correlation, simplifies logistics and follow up.

4. Graduway from Gravyty

Graduway empowers institutions to launch mentorship programs that pair students with peers, faculty, or alumni through a robust, fully branded virtual platform. These relationships serve as a powerful antidote to student isolation and uncertainty, especially among first-generation, transfer, and underrepresented students.

The platform offers structured matching, communication tools, and reporting dashboards so you can track program health and student outcomes. When students have a mentor they trust, they’re more likely to stay the course.

• Best for: Academic Advising, Alumni & Career Services
• How it helps: Especially effective for first-gen or traditionally underrepresented populations, builds belonging through meaningful connections and offers valuable career development and networking opportunities.

5. Slate CRM by Technosolutions

Slate is best known as an admissions CRM, but it also offers student engagement tools. While not an effective replacement for holistic, AI-powered personalized student experiences, Slate CRM offers automated email and texting capabilities to personalized application portals and behavioral tracking, giving Enrollment Management teams the ability to craft targeted communications.

Used by institutions large and small, Slate helps streamline the student journey and lays the foundation for long-term retention.

• Best for: Enrollment & Admissions
• How it helps: Improves yield and persistence with targeted outreach.

6. Ellucian Banner

For institutions looking for a tightly integrated system, Ellucian Banner offers a student information platform with engagement features. Students can receive automated nudges about holds, registration, or financial aid tasks directly in their portal. As with Slate, however, keep in mind that relying only on your CRM for student engagement isn’t the best strategy to improve long-term outcomes. CRMs can, though, be a powerful partner in end-to-end personalized student engagement.

Banner’s analytics tools give staff a bird’s-eye view of student performance, enrollment patterns, and risk factors, making it easier to coordinate proactive support.

• Best for: Advising & Student Success
• How it helps: A centralized hub that enables timely nudges, alerts, and course-of-study support.

7. Pronto

Pronto is a real-time chat and video app built for the campus environment. It allows students to engage in live conversations with peers, professors, and support staff—inside or outside the classroom.

The student engagement app’s automatic translation feature also ensures inclusivity for multilingual communities. For commuter, online, or part-time students, Pronto bridges the engagement gap and builds community digitally.

• Best for: Tutoring, Study Groups, and Student Affairs
• How it helps: Builds digital community, especially among commuter and remote students.

8. Navigate by EAB

Navigate provides a holistic student success platform that blends predictive analytics with communication workflows. Advisors and support staff can identify at-risk students early, intervene with customized outreach, and manage caseloads efficiently.

Whether it’s scheduling appointments, following up on alerts, or nudging students to register for classes, Navigate makes personalized engagement possible across departments.

• Best for: Academic Advising & Degree Completion Teams
• How it helps: Identifies risks early and enables coordinated outreach.

9. CircleIn

CircleIn transforms studying into a social, gamified experience. Students can earn points by helping classmates, sharing notes, and answering questions—all within an easy-to-use app.

The platform incentivizes positive academic behavior, reinforces peer support, and increases time-on-task (especially helpful in large lecture-based or first-year courses).

• Best for: STEM, First-Year Programs
• How it helps: Boosts academic engagement and regular study habits.

10. InvolveSoft

InvolveSoft connects students to community service opportunities, leadership programs, and civic engagement initiatives. Students can discover causes they care about and log their impact, building resumes and fostering a deeper connection to the institution’s mission.

For Student Affairs and service-learning teams, it’s a powerful way to scale purpose-driven programming and demonstrate its effect on student retention.

• Best for: Service Learning, Student Affairs
• How it helps: Builds purpose and belonging through shared service.

11. Discord

Originally built for gamers, Discord has become a go-to tool for Gen Z students seeking community and collaboration. Many campuses now use Discord to create moderated spaces where students can connect around shared identities, interests, courses, or support needs.

Unlike email or LMS discussion boards, Discord feels informal, authentic, and always-on, great for cultivating community outside traditional structures.

• Best for: Student Affairs
• How it helps: Cultivates authentic micro-communities that thrive outside traditional LMS.

12. Gratavid from Gravyty

Gratavid is a versatile, easy-to-use video messaging tool perfect for each stage of the student-to-alumni journey. By sending students personalized video messages during key moments in their journey – from saying congratulations on acceptance and inviting them to student orientation to promoting an upcoming giving day – Gratavid is the perfect tool for blending authentic human connection with scalable automation.

All touchpoints are tracked back in your CRM, so you never lose track of the student journey and all departments are in sync. 

The best part about Gratavid? There are no shortage of use cases—teams across the institution from Recruitment and Admissions to Career Services and Advancement can connect with students, alumni and donors more impactfully and at scale with personal video messaging. 

• Best for: The entire administrative team—Recruitment, Admissions, Financial Aid, Advising, Enrollment Management, Advancement, Alumni Relations
• How it helps: Automated, scalable and human-centric outreach across the entire journey, for both 1:1 and bulk delivery.

What’s next: Getting started with student engagement tools

Retention is the outcome of hundreds of small, meaningful student interactions. With the right tools, higher ed teams can make those interactions smarter, faster, and more impactful. 

Whether it’s helping students complete key tasks with Ivy & Ocelot or finding a mentor with Graduway, these platforms offer a modern approach to a timeless goal: helping students thrive.

Want to learn more about how Gravyty’s solutions can help you build a solid foundation for student engagement to improve institutional outcomes? Let’s talk.