About ADVi
ADVi – which is short for “advisor” – is an AI-powered chatbot developed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) in partnership with Mainstay. ADVi uses artificial intelligence to provide on-demand support to students looking to attend or return to higher education – all through text message.
Students who sign up for ADVi receive weekly text messages with accurate and engaging information about key college access milestones, common questions, and action steps. Students can also chat with ADVi and ask questions about the college-going process anytime. If ADVi can’t answer a question or a student needs personalized support, a team of trained advisors from THECB 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 state’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. What started as a modest pilot project with only a few thousand students has since scaled to a massive statewide audience, with more than 1.2 million students signing up for help from ADVi since the program’s launch.
Today, ADVi serves both high school students (11th and 12th graders) and adult learners looking to return to an undergraduate program they already started or start fresh. Eligible students can sign up for ADVi through their ApplyTexas and/or My Texas Future accounts by turning on SMS/text message notifications in their profile settings.
Here are other tools to help you on your path to college and beyond: