Dear Colleagues:
Can you believe it - it's finally summer! With the graduation celebrations in the history books, it's time to focus on our collective next steps...
Avoiding summer melt.
Just what is summer melt?
It's a phenomenon in which a high school senior applies, gets accepted and commits to a college but ultimately does not show up in the fall.
This year, disruptions and uncertainties caused by the pandemic could lead to higher summer melt rates. Early findings are troubling:
- A recent poll of graduating seniors found that only 20% of respondents still plan to enroll in their first-choice school.
- Another survey found that as many as 24% of seniors may change or abandon their postsecondary plans.
- 16% of students are considering a gap year.
That's where DCAN comes in - we're here to help
everyone
this summer!
Over the summer, we'll offer regular
workshops
and provide
1-on-1 advising. Our counselors and advisers are trained and ready to help
high school students, parents and college students with the following issues:
- College Applications: Gauging, assessing and supporting students applicant pool
- FAFSA/Financial Aid: Support with FAFSA completion, verification and appeal support
- Financial Plan: Supporting students in understanding the financial commitment of a school selection and making a 4-5 year draft plan of how they'll manage any semester-based debt.
- Housing/Living: Support with student housing requirement submissions, help the student understand the housing process and draft a plan.
- Enrollment Transition: Ensuring students completed all institutional requirements for officially enrolling (enrollment deposit, orientation registration, placement exams, health insurance waivers, etc.).
Our summer newsletters will highlight those workshops and other opportunities, so please stay tuned!
In this issue, you'll also find information from the
Detroit College Ambassadors and
College Board Opportunity Scholarships.
With anticipation,
Onjila Odeneal
Acting Executive Director, DCAN
