Studies support the benefits of coaching for students as well as institutions. Robinson and Gahagan (2010) found that coaching influenced academic success and persistence indirectly by deepening the connection between students and institution. A study on coaching with Inside Track, a company that partners with colleges to offer students coaching via phone, found that coaching improved persistence and retention, and that retention and completion improvements held over time (Bettinger & Baker, 2014). This study found coaching to address a variety of barriers to success such as access to information, academic preparation, and belonging, and noted that the ameliorative effects of coaching on persistence and retention outweighed the benefits of other more costly interventions such as financial aid. A recent comprehensive study found that students participating in a bi-weekly one-on-one coaching program improved on multiple measures including higher semester Grade Point Average (GPA), higher overall GPA, and persistence to the following year (Capstick, Harrell-Williams, Cockrum, & West, 2019).
References:
Bettinger, E. P., & Baker, R. B. (2014). The effects of student coaching: An evaluation of a randomized experiment in student advising. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36(1), 3-19.
Capstick, M. K., Harrell-Williams, L. M., Cockrum, C. D., & West, S. L. (2019). Exploring the effectiveness of academic coaching for academically at-risk college students. Innovative Higher Education, 44, 219-231.
Robinson, C., & Gahagan, J. (2010). Coaching students to academic success and engagement on campus. About Campus, 15(4), 26-29.