College Enrollment and "Summer Melt" in a Large, Urban District: Student and High School Factors

• In Event: Research Into Higher Education: Enrollment, Course Taking, and Dropping Out

Abstract

Identifying barriers to college enrollment among at-risk students is essential to improving equity in educational attainment. One such barrier is “summer melt,” or the phenomenon whereby graduates who prepared to enroll in college the next fall do not enroll. This study uses administrative and other student-level data sources (National Student Clearinghouse, Naviance) to measure the extent of summer melt in one large urban school district, and determines what student and institutional factors are associated with melt. The analyses can identify potential risk factors and leverage points for district and school practitioners to reduce the likelihood of summer melt among its graduates.

Authors

• Rachel E. Durham, Johns Hopkins University

• Faith Connolly, Johns Hopkins University