City, Higher Education Student Advisory Board Launch Survey
Published on February 26, 2025
SAN ANTONIO (February 26, 2025) – The City of San Antonio‘s Higher Education Student Advisory Board is conducting a San Antonio Higher Education Student Survey through March 16 to understand the unique challenges college students are facing in San Antonio and how this impacts postsecondary completion.
The survey is open to San Antonio residents who are current college students and those who attended college but did not grauate and are no longer enrolled.
Postsecondary completion rates in San Antonio remain below both state and national averages. According to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 27.4 percent of students who attended college in San Antonio attained a bachelor's degree or above. In contrast, postsecondary attainment is 31.3 percent for Texas overall and 33.5 percent nationwide.
A 2024 Gallup-Lumina Foundation report further highlighted that 1 in 3 college students in the United States considered dropping out in the past six months, citing concerns such as mental health, the cost of higher education, and balancing work and school.
“The College Survey Subcommittee on the Higher Education Student Advisory Board believes San Antonio students must have improved access to resources and support systems to ensure they are not only enrolling in college but also graduating,” said Jonah Espinoza, Higher Education Student Advisory Board Member. “We have identified a critical issue in San Antonio that warrants deeper examination from a citywide perspective: college retention and persistence.”
Through the survey, the Higher Education Student Advisory Board will aim to identify the key issues affecting college persistence among San Antonio’s higher education students. The data collected from the survey will inform actionable recommendations to the Mayor and City Council, helping the City of San Antonio better support students in higher education institutions and invest in their success.
The City invests in college enrollment and accessibility through funding to cafécollege, San Antonio Education Partnership, AlamoPROMISE and Ready to Work. The survey data will be utilized to improve the City’s investment in improving college, career and military readiness, and the results will be shared with local leaders interested in postsecondary completion.
The San Antonio Higher Education Student Survey is available on SASpeakUp.com. The survey is anonymous and will be available in English, Spanish and other languages until March 16, 2025.