Summer melt is the phenomenon where incoming college freshmen don’t enroll in classes the fall after they are accepted into college. A number of factors may play into that decision, but one of the main reasons is students lack a knowledgeable guide to help navigate the transition to college. Many don’t know what the next steps are, and without confidence in what they need to do, they put tasks off or don’t complete them.
According to Reach Higher, summer melt impacts as many as 40% of students. Given all of the additional obstacles COVID-19 has created, experts are anticipating even more students will be susceptible to summer melt this year.
Summer melt is a huge concern for College Possible Oregon which is why we have been delivering curriculum designed to target the reasons summer melt occurs. We call this program Summer Bridge.
This year, Summer Bridge will be completely virtual, giving us the opportunity to engage more college partners in these sessions so students can begin making contacts with professionals on campus before the school year starts.
Over the next two and a half weeks, we will host 27 Summer Bridge sessions lasting two hours. The majority of that time will be spent one-on-one with a student and College Possible coach walking through the enrollment checklist. These sessions are set up so the incoming freshman have a chance to meet fellow College Possible students attending their same college or university next fall.
During Summer Bridge, students will accomplish or make a plan to:
- Pay their deposit(s)
- Secure housing
- Accept financial aid package
- Complete entrance loan counseling
- Register for additional student support programs on-campus
- Register for classes
- Send final high school transcripts
- Apply or search for work-study positions
- Activate their college student account and email
- Sign up for orientation
- And much, much more!
In an effort to make sure that every student receives one-on-one coaching, we’re leaning on community volunteers to help! If you’re interested in future volunteer opportunities with College Possible, please reach out to Christina Carl at CCarl@CollegePossible.org for more information.
Summer Bridge programming is generously sponsored by:
