Why would a student who put in all time and effort required to get into college—taking the right classes and tests, writing essays, filling out applications and aid forms, and even making their deposit—then not take their place at their chosen college just a few months later? In the time between collecting their high school diploma and the first day of college classes, many students across the country veer off the college track. SEED’s college success advisors counter this phenomenon, known as “summer melt”, by helping SEED graduates stay on top of all the deadlines and details leading up to their first semester of college.
While exact statistics on summer melt across the country (high school seniors who commit to college but don’t end up enrolling) are hard to collect, a Harvard Study of multiple school districts puts the range at 10-40 percent, with indications that it is highest in districts with higher amounts of lower-income students. Research done at the University of Virginia and the National Student Clearinghouse, estimate the summer melt rate at 20-30 percent. While some of those students will end up matriculating in a semester or two, students who enroll in college immediately are more likely to attain a degree.
Low-income, first-generation students are especially susceptible to summer melt because of financial challenges and less access to knowledge about the ins and outs of college requirements. Targeted support during the summer months can increase the percentage of college-intending students who arrive on college campuses, which is why SEED college success advisors use summer advising to help SEED graduates stay on track.
When college-track students graduate from high school, they tend to lose the support of college counselors who helped them manage the college application process. During the summer, colleges flood the mailboxes and inboxes of incoming first year students with information on housing, orientation, class registration, financial aid, and medical forms, many with deadlines that, if missed, can derail college plans. If a student is the first in their family to attend college, their families may not know everything they have to do and be able to help. “For many low-income and first-generation college students, the summer before their first year of college is nerve-wracking. Between endless paperwork and financial aid decisions, some students never matriculate,” explains Marcela Rodrigues-Sherley in Chalkbeat New York.
SEED graduates can sidestep many of these challenges because of the way SEED’s college success advising model works. Advisors are already working with SEED students while they’re in high school, so by the time summer rolls around, students have an understanding of what they need to do, and an advisor to help them stay on track.
Summer advising kicks off in the spring of senior year, says college success advisor Kiaira Muhammad. “We try to complete as much as we can by the end of senior year—immunization records, housing, enrollment, financial aid, figuring out what items you need, how students are getting to campus, and figuring out where parents will stay if they’re coming from out of state.” By going over the details together, students and advisors can strategize and plan out what they need to do. Then, through the summer advisors and advisees stay connected and tackle what arises as they move forward.
Even with the most solid plans in place, unanticipated problems do arise. As an example, one of College Success Manager Ashley Bargeron’s advisees called her frantically when a bill arrived from her school with an extra $6,000 on it. They were able to sit down together and go through each line item, where they discovered the school had mistakenly charged out-of-state tuition to the in-state student. Ashley was then able to help the student pull together additional residency documents the school needed and get it sorted out.
Financial stress is a major contributing factor to summer melt and stopping out (when a student starts college but then leaves), so college success advisors spend a lot of time working with students, families, and financial aid offices, including proactive summer outreach. Over the summer, Kiaira says, “I start acclimating myself with the financial aid departments and who I’ll be talking to there because some of these people move mountains for our students.”
Going from high school to college is a major life change. SEED college success advisors provide the support that’s critical for so many students to navigate the period between walking off the stage with their high school diploma to walking onto the grounds of their college campus. SEED’s College Transition and Success programming is designed to guide graduates to and through college—and there is no summer break from making sure our graduates have everything they need to achieve their dreams!