Summer is a critical time for students and educators. It’s when summer melt strikes—when up to 40% of low-income, first-generation students who are planning to attend college lose steam and never start classes. It’s prime time for The SEED Foundation’s college success advisors, who help our graduates navigate the pitfalls that cause summer melt. And it’s prime time for you, our supporters—because from now until June 30th, all new, increased, and renewed gifts will be matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous supporter.
How does SEED ensure that our graduates—80% of whom are first-generation college-bound—don’t succumb to summer melt? By developing meaningful relationships with each graduate, so that when obstacles arise, they have an arsenal of experts on speed dial.
Take Tiffani, SEED DC ’16, who had registered at Penn State-Hazleton last summer: “My advisor warned me that it wasn’t my most affordable option, but my heart was set on Penn State. I appealed my financial aid award and tried to get additional funding, but by mid-August, none of it had come through. I was going to put college off for a year. But my advisor put everything into perspective for me—like how my existing scholarships and financial aid would be affected, and how much time I could lose. They urged me to go with the Plan B that we’d come up with earlier in the summer. I contacted Radford University that day. With SEED’s help getting everything in order, I started classes there a week later. Now, I’m finishing my freshman year with a 3.2 GPA.”
SEED’s college success work is entirely funded by private donors like you. Please click here to support students like Tiffani to and through college. All new, increased, and renewed gifts will be matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous supporter.*
Thank you for helping first-generation college students like Tiffani take their seats on campus. The SEED Foundation can’t eradicate summer melt without you.
*Questions about the terms of the donor match? Please reach out to Alisha Huntley, Director of Development Operations and Annual Giving, at 202.785.4123 x58 or ahuntley@seedfoundation.com to make sure your gift will qualify.