Across the country, colleges and universities are reporting record-high enrollment for the spring semester. Here in Texas, where I help support students succeed on their path to and through college, Texas State University, the University of Texas at El Paso, and the Lone Star College System, among others, all recorded their largest spring enrollments in history.

The increase builds on momentum from the fall, when student enrollment at Texas institutions reached an all-time high of 1.6 million. Nationally, enrollment rose for the third consecutive year after pandemic-era declines. In fact, with 19.4 million students enrolled, colleges are seeing their largest total enrollment in a decade.

But beneath the positive headlines, a more troubling trend persists: too many students who start college never finish. More than one-third of students nationwide fail to earn a degree within six years. Today, about 40 million people in the United States have attended college but never completed. There is, however, an encouraging counterexample emerging here in Texas.

A new six-year study shows that sustained, personalized coaching can meaningfully change students’ trajectories into and through college. Texas students who received coaching were 13 percent more likely to enroll in college, driven entirely by increased enrollment at four-year institutions. Just as importantly, they were up to 35 percent more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree within six years. These findings add to a small but growing body of research showing that coaching helps students persist through setbacks, make informed college choices, and ultimately graduate.