About ADVi
ADVi – which is short for “advisor” – is a chatbot powered by Mainstay. ADVi uses artificial intelligence to provide on-demand support to students looking to attend or return to higher education.
ADVi uses text messages to reach students with accurate and engaging information about key college access milestones, common questions, and action steps. If ADVi can’t answer a question or a student needs personalized support, the Virtual Advising Project’s trained advisors step in to help.
About the Virtual Advising Project
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) developed the Virtual Advising Project to support Texas students with their postsecondary journey. The project strives to give all Texans the information they need to access higher education and earn credentials at Texas colleges and universities. This project provides a safe and cost-effective way for the state of Texas to reach students with critical, timely information needed to meet key college and career milestones. It also supports the agency’s strategic plan for higher education, Building a Talent Strong Texas.
The Virtual Advising Project began as a partnership with Advise Texas and The University of Texas at Austin in 2018. The project initially targeted high school seniors and adult learners with significant college credit but no credential in central, south, and west Texas. Since launching, more than 1 million students from across the state have signed up for help from ADVi.
Today, ADVi continues to serve both high school seniors and adult learners looking to return to an undergraduate program they already started or start fresh. Students can opt into text messages by creating an ApplyTexas account and setting their notification preferences to allow text messages.
Here are other tools to help you on your path to college and beyond: