Last year I undertook a nearly impossible task — I tried to freeze summer melt!
When we hear summer melt, some of us instantly think of ice cream oozing down our cones and arms on a hot summer day while we struggle to lick the melted sugar before it gets away. Others might think of spheres of sweat dripping down our backs, foreheads and legs when simply walking from our air conditioned abodes to our cars. Both forms of “melt” are truly awful, but these aren’t what I’m speaking of. I’m talking about the percentage of college-intending seniors already accepted into college that still fail to attend school the fall after high school graduation.
Yes, you heard me correctly! And if the phenomenon itself doesn’t ruffle your feathers… the fact that this affects more than 250,000 students annually and disproportionately affects first generation, low-income kiddos probably will.
How did I try to fix this?
With texts.
Why texts?
Because we text more than we talk these days and sometimes more than we walk. Text has become the new preferred form of communication over talking and emailing: 5-year-olds text, 15-year-olds text, 25-year-olds text and 50-year-olds text. It’s no secret that we text – and it’s no secret that our kiddos need guidance, resources and support when transitioning from high school to college – especially during the summer months when most high schools are closed.
So yes, I tried to freeze that sucka.
Text message nudges can decrease summer melt up to 20% annually, according to research rendered by summer melt scholars Ben Castleman and Lindsay Page. In short, their studies show that text message reminders like “have you finished your FASFA,” to “do you have housing,” can move a student from college acceptance to attendance and from college found to college bound.
Over the past year, I have worked relentlessly to reenergize Bridgit2College – scalable texting software – to make sure seniors nationwide have the guidance, resources and support needed to successfully matriculate to college. I started this ‘freeze summer melt’ journey by meeting with 100 stakeholders in 100 days, from students to parents to education experts. 265 days later, Bridgit2College is now being used by 10,500+ students in 10 states: Alabama, California, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Michigan, and Texas. High schools are texting, colleges are texting, nonprofits are texting, and summer melt centers are texting extensively in efforts to get more kiddos to college.
After 12 months of relentlessness with a pinch of ruthlessness, unfortunately, I have yet to freeze summer melt and have much more work to do. BUT, in the spirit of the 2016 version of Ghostbusters – I ain’t afraid of no melt, and until the work is done we shall continue on. Yes, I said we. You can help me freeze summer melt by logging on to Twitter and searching the #BeAGrad hashtag. Here you will find lots of resources compiled by summer melt scholar Lindsay Page, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, College Summit, College Bound (aka yours truly) and others. Here, you can get the guidance, resources and support needed to get students to school in the fall. College should be an option for all, so let’s catch our sisters and brothers before they fall. Freeze summer melt with me!
