A new multi-institution study links family access to student progress data with meaningfully higher retention, reinforcing calls to improve information sharing systems that support persistence. The analysis found that when families could view academic and administrative progress indicators, students were retained at rates 6.9 percentage points higher than peers without that access. The study also reported larger gains for Black and Hispanic students (+9.6 points) and first-generation students (+7.2 points. The report frames the mechanism as visibility: earlier awareness of issues such as financial holds, unpaid balances, or incomplete requirements helps families intervene before problems escalate into enrollment disruptions. The study also notes low rejection rates for parent access requests, suggesting institutions may have room to rethink FERPA-driven processes around student-consented data sharing.