It’s summer time! Across the nation thousands of recent high school graduates are enjoying their last summer before their first college semester. They are submitting deposits, selecting courses, packing, and anxiously awaiting their first day. However, a large portion of students from low-income communities will have a very different summer experience. Despite being college eligible and in some cases even enrolled, these students will not attend in the fall and will instead “melt” away during the summer.
This is called “summer melt”. Nationally about 10 to 20 percent of college eligible students melt away, most of which are low-income minority students planning to enroll in community college. In the Southwest district that includes Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico, 44 percent of students melt away. The melt was 19 percent for four-year institutions and 37 percent for community colleges in 2011. The lower a student’s income, the more likely they are to experience summer melt because they lack the necessary resources and support. This means that we are losing future Latino leaders and innovators over the summer. We cannot allow this to happen. A higher education is not just a pathway to opportunity, it is a prerequisite.
Source: US Department of Education: https://www.ed.gov/content/summer-melt
SDP Summer Melt Handbook: A Guide to Investigating and Responding to Summer Melt, Harvard University https://sdp.cepr.harvard.edu/files/cepr-sdp/files/sdp-summer-melt-handbook.pdf
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Basko, A. (2022). How to solve the mystery of Summer Melt. Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-solve-the-mystery-of-summer-melt
Castleman, B. L., & Page, L. C. (2014). A trickle or a torrent? Understanding the extent of summer “melt” among college intending high school graduates. Social Science Quarterly, 95, 202-220. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26612158#metadata_info_tab_contents
Castleman, B. L., Page, L. C., & Schooley, K. (2014). The forgotten summer: Does the offer of college counseling after high school mitigate summer melt among college‐intending, low‐income high school graduates? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 33(2), 320-344, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1027721
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https://admissions.usf.edu/blog/top-tips-for-college-counselors-on-beating-summer-melt
Inside Track (2022) East Carolina University Student Journey Map. Consultant Report, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC. Retrieved from https://pasc.ecu.edu/wp-content/pv-uploads/sites/283/2022/09/ECU-Student-Journey-Map-June-2022.pdf
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Sanchez, I. M. (2021). Schools Can Stop Summer Melt: Lessons Learned from the Wisconsin Text Steps Project. National College Attainment Network. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1242587
“Summer melt” was bad during the pandemic, experts fear it could get worse (hechingerreport.org), https://hechingerreport.org/counselors-and-colleges-struggle-through-the-summer-to-make-sure-students-show-up/
Stopping Summer Melt Starts in the Spring, Monday, April 5, 2021, Posted by: Ainsley Ash, Communications Intern, National College Attainment Network, https://www.ncan.org/news/559403/Stopping-Summer-Melt-Starts-in-the-Spring.htm
Tackett, Wendy L.; Pasatta, Kelley; and Pauken, Evan (2018). "Lessons Learned from a Summer Melt Prevention Program," Journal of College Access: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 5. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1182300
Taylor, Z. W. (2020). Optimizing Away Summer Melt: How Search Engine Optimization May Reduce Summer Melt at Highly Ranked US Institutions of Higher Education. Forthcoming in Strategic Enrollment Management Quarterly, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3513032
Wang, H., Zhou, Y., and King, B. (2021). College Choice in the Middle of a Pandemic – a Study of Summer Melt. Paper presented at the 2021 Student Success Conference, online. Retrieved from https://ipar.ecu.edu/wp-content/pv-uploads/sites/130/2019/10/College-Choice-in-the-Middle-of-a-Pandemic-a-Study-of-Summer-Melt.pdf
Wang, H. & Zhou, Y. (2020). An Analysis of ECU’s Accepted Students: Who joined the Pirate Nation? Who didn’t and where did they go? Paper presented at the 2020 Student Success Conference, Greenville, NC. Retrieved from https://ipar.ecu.edu/wp-content/pv-uploads/sites/130/2019/10/An-Analysis-of-ECUs-Accepted-Students.pdf
What the Research Says About Summer Melt, educationnorthwest, https://educationnorthwest.org/resources/what-research-says-about-summer-melt
Castleman, B. L., & Page, L. C. (2014). Summer melt: Supporting low-income students through the transition to college. Harvard Education Press. Book: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED568799, Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Melt-Supporting-Low-Income-Transition/dp/1612507417, Harvard Education Press: https://www.hepg.org/hep-home/books/summer-melt
College Bound? Avoid Summer Melt!, EducationQuest, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9dv84VvNcw
I'm First! Summer Melt Video Series Introduction, I'm First, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0P537oX7rA
Stopping Summer Melt, Tennessee SCORE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F6t0_RsjJQ
Summer Melt Prevention: How Programs and Colleges Can Work Together, CaStudentAid, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H7VSCOWvmQ
What's 'summer melt,' and how can you avoid it?, Spokane Public Schools, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QMNbsrgAII
What is summer melt? EdNC Explains, EducationNC, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV-P_lxbRlE
Elizabeth Coghill, Ed.D
Director
252-737-2011
coghille@ecu.edu
NCLCA Lifetime Learning Center Leadership Certification
Past-President, Southeastern College Learning Center Association
