Leaks in the College Access Pipeline: Examining Summer Melt in a Large Urban School District

• In Event: Tackling Transfer: Community Colleges, Summer Melt, Rurality, and Public Universities

Abstract

This paper examines summer melt in a large, urban school district. Summer melt occurs when high school seniors who appear on track to attend college the fall after high school graduation do not enroll. Although researchers generally find that students from specific demographic groups are most likely to melt, we know relatively little about what student characteristics, beyond demographics, predict melt. Current interventions intended to reduce melt primarily focus on providing support during the summer months. Whether high school staff could potentially reduce melt by assisting students during senior year has received less attention. Drawing on longitudinal administrative and survey data, we identify non-demographic student characteristics that predict summer melt and school-based practices that may reduce summer melt.

Authors

• Carrie Miller, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Caitlin Ahearn, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Meredith Phillips, University of California - Los Angeles
  Non-Presenting Author