Two innovative technology-based education companies are tackling what education researchers coin “summer melt,” a phenomenon of college-intending students failing to enroll at any institution the fall following their high school graduation.
Signal Vine, a text messaging platform, and Study.com have created and shared innovative ways to help vulnerable students potentially at risk of “summer melt” overcome various barriers to college in order to successfully start their matriculation.
Both companies cite research from Dr. Benjamin Castleman and Dr. Lindsay Page at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University as the basis for their efforts to help students navigate the sometimes stressful process of completing the tasks required to enroll at their chosen institution.
These tasks can include applying for financial aid, registering for and attending orientation, taking placement tests, responding to university correspondences and completing forms for housing. The platforms cater to millennials’ increasing use of technology and social media and also fill a perceived gap in a lack of communication between college-intending students and universities.
Signal Vine’s text-based method for addressing “summer melt” stems from the researchers’ findings that quality communication strategies of engagement, such as text messaging students, can have effective and motivational benefits for vulnerable students. Similarly, Study.com engages with students by offering online courses for college credit, providing scholarships to lower the cost of attendance and providing resources to help inform students’ decisions for their education.
Brian Kathman, CEO of Signal Vine, said that the core challenge Signal Vine is trying to change is the belief that communication is not as effective as it used to be for students.
“We’ve talked with funders about funding ‘summer melt’ and they’ve said, ‘well we have money for K-12 and we have money for post-secondary, but we don’t have money to fund programs in that in-between stage,’” said Kathman in an interview with Diverse. “That winds up creating a whole other dilemma of who’s responsible for communicating to the students, who’s responsible for making sure the student is able to get over the hurdles and through the obstacles that are going to get in their way to be able to show up on campus in the fall.”
