CollegeSpring Launches in Austin, Bringing Proven, Equitable Test Prep to Underserved Students
Austin, Texas: March 10, 2026: CollegeSpring, a national nonprofit dedicated to closing the college and career opportunity gap through effective test preparation and postsecondary readiness support, announces its official expansion into the Austin market. The organization will partner with local districts, schools, and community-based organizations to provide teacher-led, in-school SAT®, ACT®, and TSIA2 preparation designed specifically for students who have traditionally lacked access to high-quality resources. As part of their regional launch, the organization is convening key partners including Breakthrough Central Texas, Del Valle ISD, and Austin Achieve.
CollegeSpring’s arrival comes at a pivotal moment. While Texas districts continue to emphasize college and career readiness, many Austin-area students still face significant disparities in access to rigorous test preparation. Despite the importance of standardized tests as an important pathway to meeting state readiness benchmarks, dual-enrollment eligibility, college enrollment, and scholarships, research shows that students from low-income backgrounds are underperforming in core English, math, and writing skills that are used to assess College, Career, and Military Readiness (CCMR) and don’t have access to the costly tutoring of their higher income peers.
CollegeSpring’s program directly addresses this gap by embedding equitable, research-backed test prep into the school day that helps students hit key benchmarks for greater college and career options and help districts unlock much-needed CCMR state funding. The organization’s model has demonstrated consistent, measurable outcomes as recently revealed in its latest impact report. Last year, CollegeSpring students:
● Improved by an average of 137 points and boosted their score by nearly 20% on the SAT, regardless of their starting point.
● Gained +1.3 ACT points and ~+17 percentile points, jumping from the 31st percentile to almost the 50th percentile. This improvement moves students from the bottom third into striking distance of the top half of ACT test-takers nationwide.
● Exceeded the bar in Math on early TSIA2 pilot program with 26% of CollegeSpring students meeting benchmark compared to 20% across the state.
● Students are approaching or surpassing the national median for CCMR, which is the range where college enrollment and persistence rates rise steeply.
“As we expand into Austin, we are deepening our commitment to ensuring that every student, regardless of zip code or circumstance, has the opportunity to show their full potential,” said Dr. Yoon S. Choi, CEO of CollegeSpring. “Our data show that students who engage with our program don’t just raise their test scores, they gain confidence, academic readiness, and real options for college and career. Austin’s strong community partnerships and dedication to educational equity make it the ideal home for our next chapter.”
Nationally, CollegeSpring has served more than 100,000 students, equipping them with the academic foundation and confidence building needed to succeed on tests and beyond.
