That includes birthday balloons, chicken soup when he’s sick, ER waiting room company, prescription pickups, bedbug exterminator coordination and regular photo updates to his parents.
“It’s like a surrogacy,” said Hamid Haidari, another MindyKnows client, after Horwitz took his son for X-rays following a soccer injury.
A niche business built on parental anxiety
Concierge student support services aren’t entirely new, but a fresh wave of upstarts has emerged to meet growing demand.
For example, MindyKnows now operates across 10 campuses — including Northwestern, the University of Florida and UCLA — with its own local “Mindy” and pricing structure at each. The unlimited Washington University package runs $525 a year. Similar businesses include the Bama Mama in Alabama, the GA Mom in Georgia and Campus Mom in Texas.
Campus Mom co-founder Monteigne Long explains the idea to the New York Times: “When I came to college in 1998, my parents dropped me off on a Saturday and were gone. Parents are staying much more tuned in and connected with their students’ college experience than they have in the past. When they can’t be here, they want someone who can be that stand-in for them.”
The data backs up that parental anxiety. According to The Princeton Review’s 2025 College Hopes & Worries Survey, 50% of parents said their child’s ideal college would be within 250 miles of home — compared to just 35% of students who said the same. Ever since the survey added that question in 2007, the majority of parents have consistently preferred proximity, while most of their kids have preferred distance.
What the services offer families
The specific offerings vary by company but share a common thread: doing the things a nearby parent would do.
For example, the Bama Mama’s Carrie Eckhardt will clean dorm rooms and check in on students if parents haven’t heard from them in a few days — “just pop in and say hi, and take a picture and send it to their mom.” Campus Mom offers “holistic wellness check-ins,” laundry services and sorority recruitment support packages.
Among many other tasks, Horwitz bakes homemade challah for students and fields recommendations on everything from the best local doctors to trustworthy landlords.
