Summer Melt is a term used to refer to the growing trend of students not showing up for college after they have been accepted and scheduled to attend. During their senior year of high school seniors get lots of information from colleges. There is lots of peer pressure to choose and apply for a college. The problem is that after high school graduation, teacher support disappears, peer pressure reduces and there is limited communication from the colleges. The question is how do we get our high school students to follow through and show up for college classes. I have been very disappointed to learn about students that I had worked with during their senior year and they never showed up for college classes. I have decided to follow up on some of my students, especially those with limited support at home or those who have shown a history of indecision or low self confidence. Social media can be used to help with this a lot. I have sent my kids Facebook messages to ask if they have everything ready for college. I took one of my kids to the local college and we walked his schedule because his parents had never gone to college and he was stresses. I have called graduates to see if they have completed everything for college and sometimes meeting with them to help them finish it up. or threatening to call their parents if they don't. During their senior year of high school I encourage them for follow the college on Twitter, Facebook or SnapChat so they are kept in the loop with what is going on at the college.
Early college credit also seems to help with the college summer melt. With Early College Credit,
students take a college class online during their senior year of high school. At our school they can take that as part of their high school schedule. The advantage of that is that they have a teacher that can assist them with the basics and give them some support. This way the kids realize that they can do the work and they earn college credits so they have something already invested in the college education.
The biggest thing to remember is that this happens and students need that continued support to get them to into that first class!
