One thing that Jonathan Peterson, a second-year PhD student in materials science, misses from home is his dad’s “killer pancakes.” Although he has tried to make them himself, he said they are never quite the same.
What if his parents paid a local mom to make him his dad’s pancakes for his birthday?
Campus Mom, a college concierge company founded by Monteigne Long and Karen Allen in 2023, offers this service to students living alone for the first time, far from their parents.
“Birthdays are a big part of our business,” Long said. “When parents can’t be here for their student’s birthday, we are the ones to deliver the cake and the balloon bouquet.”
Currently based in College Station, Texas and serving Texas A&M and surrounding campuses, Campus Mom will soon expand to Austin, Long said. Even though he does not think he would pay for college concierge mom services, Peterson said he sees how this service can help students who are just starting to adjust to adult life.
“I think I’ve gotten to the point where I’m pretty good at handling it myself,” Peterson said.
Campus Mom also offers wellness visits, including looking after a sick student, delivering prescriptions and conducting holistic wellness check-ins with the student on how they are adjusting to campus life so far.
“We can check in with them to see how they’re doing academically, personally, socially,” Long said.
Long and Allen said they draw on their years of experience working in higher education to connect students with resources that will make their lives easier. However, that does not exempt students from their responsibilities, Long said.
“We are not gonna do anybody’s laundry for them,” Long said.
She said while they do not provide cleaning or cooking services, they can connect students with other local businesses that offer them. UT parent Bharti Gupta, whose son is a freshman, said this assistance is unnecessary.
“What’s going to be next? Are we going to have concierge moms at work?” Gupta said. “It’s creating a society that’s going to be more dependent, as opposed to one that’s independent and solves problems.”
Gupta said she began teaching her son to be independent while he was in high school. By removing the ability for students to work through their own problems, she said students will not learn how to be a productive member of society.
Still, demand for Campus Mom services is growing, Long said. Allen and Long said they have about 50 clients. Their clients are mostly girls with increasing interest in their sorority recruitment packages, but their Halloween celebration Boo Basket is also becoming popular among boys, Allen said.
“The students are so receptive that it’s like seeing your child at their best,” Allen said. “Sometimes it’s like seeing them when they’re really down, when you really wanna make it better.”