Mainstay delivers AI-enhanced student success coaching designed to help colleges and universities engage learners through personalized text messaging conversations at critical moments throughout their educational journey. The platform combines behavioral science research with artificial intelligence to provide proactive support that addresses barriers to enrollment, retention, and academic success. Mainstay offers three integrated capabilities that work together to transform student engagement at scale.

The AI Success Coaching feature provides every student with a personalized virtual coach accessible via their mobile phone, delivering timely nudges and support based on evidence-based messaging strategies proven to drive behavior change. This proactive approach ensures students receive guidance precisely when they need it most, with 70 percent of learner texts occurring in response to a proactive outreach from the platform.

The Conversation Copilot empowers institutional staff to reclaim time and amplify their impact by handling routine inquiries and directing students to appropriate resources, allowing advisors and support personnel to focus on high-value interactions. Staff members can efficiently manage thousands of student conversations while maintaining empathy and implementing best practices in conversation strategy. The platform has enabled individual staff members to support over 10,000 students weekly without additional headcount.

The AI Insights dashboards provide institutional leaders with real-time understanding of student needs, sentiment, and barriers at scale. These analytics help institutions discover hidden obstacles preventing student progress and enable data-driven responses that foster belonging and persistence. The platform surfaces insights from the 80 percent of students who typically go unheard, extending reach beyond the vocal minority.

Mainstay has delivered measurable results across partner institutions including 50 percent reductions in summer melt, 4 percent enrollment increases, tripled FAFSA completion rates by priority deadlines, 50 percent fewer withdrawals due to balances, 5 percent retention increases, and significant improvements in academic outcomes for Pell-eligible and first-generation students. The platform supports multiple communication channels including SMS, live chat, web chat, and social media.