Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how academic coaches, through academic student support, impact graduate student performance in a time-intensive online learning program for pursuing a master's degree in leadership and human resource development in a research-intensive public university in the Southern USA. Design/methodology/approach: The participants in this study were 435 graduate students enrolled in their online master's degree program. Framed by the theory of transactional distance and by adopting a pre-experimental design and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique, the student performance in three courses was compared (principles of adult education, research methods and performance analysis) with academic coaches. Findings: The findings indicate that the average score of students was higher when students received more feedback and comments from an academic coach than less feedback and comments in the performance analysis course. Students who had an academic coach in the adult education class performed better than those who did not have a coach. However, there was not a significant difference in academic performance based on the number of academic coaches (one versus three) in the research methods course. Originality/value: This preliminary work may lead to a better understanding of how academic coaches can best support adult learners in their pursuits of online postsecondary education. This study would suggest implications for online instructors and institutions to enhance student success and retention in online learning activities by using academic coaching.