Ongoing FAFSA issues mean many students have seen their college plans disrupted — it’s compounding summer melt. And, Pell Grants haven’t expanded degree options in Pennsylvania prisons.

‘FAFSA melt’ is throwing college plans off course

We're in the thick of summer. While most associate this time of year with sunny days and beach vacations, college-access advocates around the country are working hard to make sure college-bound students stay the course.

What’s potentially standing in their way? Summer melt. It’s a perennial problem where students who have college plans, perhaps even accept an offer, get thrown off course and don’t show up in the fall. Summer melt is a particular issue for students who are already vulnerable — low-income students, students of color, and those who are the first in their families to go to college. Claire Rafford, our reporter at Mirror Indy, wrote about the issue this week. 

Bill DeBaun, senior director of data and strategic initiatives at the National College Attainment Network, helped me think about summer melt in a new way. I’d called to talk to him about why the never-ending FAFSA issues this year could make summer melt even more prevalent. He pointed out that what we’re seeing this summer is really more like “FAFSA melt.” 

There are 200,000 fewer high school seniors who have completed the federal financial-aid application this cycle compared to last year, he said. (A nationwide 10% decline in completions, according to NCAN’s tracker.) 

That means there are thousands of students who may have wanted to go to college, but aren’t. And it’s the FAFSA that’s blocking their path, not one of the typical summer-melt barriers such as getting gapped on financial aid or needing to care for family. 

“It’s almost like the melt occurred upstream, during the academic year,” DeBaun said. “These students may not even have gotten to firm college-going plans by high-school graduation.” 

DeBaun stressed that it’s not too late to complete the FAFSA. And lots of college-access groups around the country are making that point to students and families, too:

• Jonathan Custodio, our reporter at The City in New York, wrote about how college-access advocates and the City University of New York are working together to get the word out about the FAFSA this summer by offering translation services, increasing outreach to parents, and training more summer-melt prevention coaches.

• Federico Rangel, a Denver Scholarship Foundation college adviser, is working the phones this summer to make sure his students have the information they need and meeting with them one-on-one to help. “I am trying to allay fears and provide motivation,” he told Jason Gonzales at our partner Chalkbeat Colorado.

• Kayleigh Skinner, our managing editor for race and equity and my partner in writing this newsletter, wrote previously about the role community colleges can play in ensuring students get to a classroom this fall. 

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Will we see you in Austin? 

Our team is headed to Austin in September for two exciting events: 

• We’re hosting our Local Network for two days of training and team-building. It’s an annual tradition for us, and we’ll be 20-people strong this year. We’re proud to work with beat reporters in 14 markets around the country, and this in-person workshop is a highlight of our year.

• Sara Hebel, Open Campus co-founder and editor-in-chief, is moderating a conversation at the Texas Tribune Festival on Friday, Sept. 6 about how higher ed in Texas can get its mojo back. The Texas Tribune is one of our partner newsrooms.

++ Will you be in Austin for TribFest? Let me know.

++ And, please tell us what you’d like to see us cover in Texas! 

Elsewhere on Open Campus

From Chicago: Hundreds of low-income and first-generation students from Chicago are now scrambling to find money to pay for college after scholarships they were promised have fallen apart. The family of wealthy businessman Jack Schuler abruptly ended its long-running scholarship program earlier this month, Lisa Kurian Philip at our partner WBEZ reports.

Lisa also highlights the odd strings that were attached to the Schuler money — including that recipients, many of whom are students of color, had to promise to attend one of the small liberal arts colleges approved by the family.

“A lot of students who go to the ‘Schuler-preferred’ option end up transferring and dropping out because it was really racist, or they did not feel safe or they couldn’t find communities that they identified with in that place,” a former Schuler Scholars counselor told Lisa.

From Pittsburgh: It’s been a year since incarcerated people became eligible for Pell Grants. Opportunities for college degrees inside are still rare in Pennsylvania, writes Emma Folts, our reporter at PublicSource.

How rare?

Only 140 people incarcerated in Pennsylvania state prisons — out of 40,000 total — participated in a Pell-funded program in the last year.

From Tampa Bay: Since our last newsletter, Ben Sasse made the surprise announcement that he was stepping aside from president of the University of Florida. Two stories from our team at the Tampa Bay Times:

• Ian Hodgson broke down five ways the Sasse era will be remembered.

• Divya Kumar wrote about what to expect in the search for his replacement. Presidential searches in Florida are increasingly opaque, and subject to political influence.

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