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Reducing Summer Melt: A Guide for College & University Leaders
- Will Patch
- Feb 4
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 21
Summer can melt more than your ice cream. Summer melt — in the EM sense of enrollment management and enrollment marketing — means less accurate class predictions and a letdown for recruiters who have worked hard all year to build the class.
Understanding the Causes of Summer Melt
Some causes of summer melt are unintentional; the student wants to enroll and intends to but faces insurmountable barriers (either in their mind or reality). Others are intentional and can be planned for but not prevented by colleges. The causes of summer melt can be broken down into three buckets:
Financial melt
Changed financial situations
Difficulty securing financing (i.e., loans, scholarships)
"Wishful thinking" without a concrete financial plan
Misunderstandings or misleading information about financial aid. (i.e. loans portrayed as aid, disinformation about college debt)
Social melt
Anxiety and stress related to major life changes (leaving home, starting college)
Separation from friends and family
Concerns about finding a sense of belonging on campus
Intentional melt
Students who deposit to multiple colleges to hedge their bets and make sure they have options.
To understand the causes of melt you need to have a strong understanding of your students
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Taking student commitments for granted.
Overemphasizing institutional needs over student needs.
Neglecting parent communication.
Assuming families who say they have a plan to pay actually do.
Strategies for Reducing Summer Melt: Starting Early and Building Affinity
If your melt prevention plan starts in the spring or summer it's too late. Melt prevention begins with building a stronger affinity early. There are two types of information a counselor needs to be able to answer about every student they work with: What are their "key criteria" (exciting factors they need to experience/have access to) and "sticking points" (concerns and obstacles)?
Addressing key criteria means understanding what they want out of their experience.
What are they most excited about?
What do they say their college experience has to include?
What programs and activities are non-negotiable?
The sticking points are the hard conversations. Most counselors shy away from uncovering and addressing the sticking points, to your institution's detriment. If left unaddressed you will see higher melt and lower retention.
Concerns about going to college in general
Issues with your institution (i.e. location, campus culture, major)
Financial concerns
Social concerns
Health (mental and physical) concerns
Academic concerns or support needs
If you have the hard conversations and know what students are most interested in you're ready to address melt with a strategy. Your strategy should be overarching and address your goal with a variety of tactics. Email, texting, and online communities are all tactics used to achieve a strategy.
Crucially: Begin with user research. Talk directly to students to understand their motivations, concerns, and experiences with other institutions. Know your audience, both in the big picture sense and individually.
Build a strategy with input and buy-in across admissions, financial aid, athletics, arts, and student services to ensure a coherent hand-off.
Reinforce students' enrollment decisions through proactive, relevant outreach, and storytelling.
Foster a sense of community before students arrive on campus.
Engaging Parents as Partners
Throughout the process, you should plan to influence the influencers. Build affinity and advocates among the people who can speak on your behalf — most importantly parents or guardians.
Provide resources like "letting go" guides and information on appropriate parental involvement.
Develop a communication timeline specifically for parents, segmented by their needs (e.g., parents without college experience, first-time college parents, distance from campus).
Differentiate their messaging, don't just copy them on student communication.
Mine for content by listening in on parent sessions and having counselors log what questions parents ask.
Addressing Student Anxieties and Concerns
Common summer anxieties:
"Did I make the right decision?"
"Can I afford this?"
Anxiety about leaving friends and family.
How to address these concerns through targeted communication and support:
Focus on social/emotional support resources, as these are often more needed than purely academic support.
Have the hard conversations about payment plans and resources for aid with the whole family early and often.
Share resources to find student reviews and experience information. Help them verify their commitment.
Clear Financial Communication: A Cornerstone of Melt Prevention
If you start early with clear and honest messaging about financial aid — on your website, in conversations, and in outreach — you're going to help support the students and their families. They need to know that you are there with trustworthy information and that they can be honest about their fears and misunderstandings. This extends to the financial aid package and ensuring that loans or contingent aid are not included in the package so that they understand what the bill will be over the summer.
The critical importance of clear and transparent communication about financial aid and tuition.
Avoid misleading language (e.g., including loans as "aid").
Recognize that affordability is a major concern for enrolling students.
Final Thoughts on Summer Melt
Reducing summer melt is not only about data and strategies (though they are crucial to the solution); it's about truly understanding and supporting students and their families through this critical transition. The journey to college is filled with challenges and it's your responsibility to be there for them. By listening to their concerns and providing clear, compassionate communication — especially regarding financial matters — you will alleviate some of their worries.
Creating a welcoming atmosphere that nurtures a sense of belonging will empower students to feel confident in their decision to enroll. Engaging parents (and other influencers) as partners in this process fosters a supportive community that reassures students they are not alone. The more you understand their key criteria and sticking points the better they will feel about enrolling and becoming engaged alumni.
