It’s late July. Your yield report shows 10% of deposited students have gone dark. Emails bounce. Orientation slots go unfilled. Financial aid questions sit unanswered. Welcome to summer melt.
In higher ed marketing, every season, from application to yield, brings its own challenges. But summer comes with a uniquely high risk: melt.
Summer melt refers to the all-too-common scenario where students who have been accepted (and often even submitted deposits) fail to enroll for classes in the fall.
It’s not a small problem. Studies suggest that 10–40% of incoming students melt away during the summer months, with first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students most at risk.
For enrollment teams, that’s not only frustrating but also expensive. Every student lost to summer melt means lost tuition, wasted marketing spend, and a harder road to meeting institutional goals.
What Is Summer Slide?
Summer slide refers to the academic backslide that happens over break, especially for high school students who’ve just graduated.
With no structure, no deadlines, and no one checking in, students start to drift. They lose focus, stop thinking like students, and pull away from the mindset they need to succeed in college.
That loss of momentum makes it harder to complete forms, register for orientation, or even show up at all.
How Does Summer Slide Turn Into Summer Melt?
For many students—especially those without strong support networks — summer slide bleeds into summer melt.
Here’s how it usually plays out:
- They lose access to counselors. The people who helped them apply aren’t around anymore.
- They hit new walls. Financial aid forms. Immunization records. Orientation logistics. It piles up fast.
- They stop hearing from you. Or at least, they don’t hear the right things at the right time.
- They get overwhelmed. Or second-guess themselves. Or just get distracted.
- They melt.
And once they’re gone, they’re hard to get back.
One district in Fort Worth, Texas tackled this by launching a summer outreach program called Summer Link. With just a few hours of post-graduation counseling per student, they managed to connect with one-third of melt-risk graduates, offering help with forms, transcripts, and even emotional support. It made a measurable difference, proving that even modest interventions can work.
Why Summer Melt Is a Problem
Because deposits aren’t enrollment.
Higher ed teams spend months attracting and converting prospective students, often at significant cost. But if those students don’t actually start, all that effort and investment gets wiped out. You can’t afford to lose momentum at the final stage of the funnel.
When students melt, enrollment goals take a hit, and so does everything downstream: forecasting accuracy, resource planning, long-term growth.
Who’s Most Affected by Summer Melt?
Summer melt can affect any student, but it hits certain populations much harder than others. These students are more likely to face multiple, compounding barriers that make matriculation harder than it should be:
First-Generation, Low-Income, and Underrepresented Students
These students may lack the financial literacy, family support, or social capital that others take for granted. Without someone to guide them through the maze of next steps, it’s easy to go off course.
Transfer, Adult, and International Students
These groups often face different (but equally daunting) barriers. For international students, that might include immigration paperwork; for transfer and adult learners, it could mean credit evaluations, housing logistics, or work-life conflicts.
Students With Unmet Financial Needs
Even small, unexpected expenses—textbooks, housing deposits, or gaps in aid—can derail a student’s college plans if they don’t see a path forward.
What Causes Summer Melt?
No single thing causes summer melt. It’s almost always the result of friction, confusion, and disconnection at the worst possible time.
Some of the most common culprits include:
- Loss of access to high school counselors
- Lack of support from family or mentors
- Overly complex or confusing forms
- Financial uncertainty
- Logistical or housing challenges
- Missed emails or unread messages
- Anxiety about social fit or belonging
- Missed orientation or registration deadlines
- Fears around academic performance
In short: Students hit a wall. Or several walls. And no one’s there to help them climb over.
14 Ways to Prevent Summer Melt
Once students deposit, the finish line may feel close, but there’s still a long stretch between acceptance and enrollment. That’s where digital marketing makes the difference.
Here are 14 high-impact strategies to keep admitted students engaged, informed, and excited to follow through:
1. Pinpoint Melt Risk in Your Enrollment Funnel
Before you attempt to address summer melt, you need to understand where it’s happening. Look at your data: Who deposited but hasn’t logged into the portal? Who hasn’t opened your last few emails? Who skipped orientation registration?
Use your CRM or marketing automation platform to flag melt-risk behaviors early. That data should guide your campaigns as well as enrollment advising.
Pro tip: Segment your melt-risk audience by behavior and demographics (e.g., first-gen, transfer, international) for more precise outreach.
2. Ease Financial Concerns With Focused Content
Sticker shock is real and often invisible until it’s too late. Help students and families navigate financial uncertainty with clear, digestible content, such as:
- Short videos on how to read a financial aid package
- Landing pages that explain scholarships, grants, and work-study options
- Real stories from students who made it work
3. Answer Questions Before They’re Asked
Students hesitate when they don’t have answers, so make those answers impossible to miss.
Create blog posts, videos, or resource pages that address:
- What to expect at orientation
- What to pack for move-in
- How to access academic support services
- What “student success” really looks like
Publish this content early. Promote it via email and social. Recycle it for retargeting ads.
4. Show Student Life Through the Student’s Eyes
Don’t just say your campus is welcoming—show it! User-generated content (UGC) builds trust, and short-form video is your most powerful format.
- Let current students take over your Instagram or TikTok
- Post “day in the life” vlogs and Reels
- Host student-led Q&As or live chats
Authentic, peer-driven content turns your message into a connection. And for students worried about belonging, that connection is everything.
5. Send SMS and Email Reminders That Actually Get Read
Email alone won’t cut it. SMS messaging is a convenient way to reach your students where they live (99% of the time in their texts).
And the data backs it up. In a foundational study by Drs. Ben Castleman and Lindsay Page, summer melt text campaigns led to an 11% increase in college matriculation among high school graduates.
Use SMS to:
- Nudge students to register for orientation
- Send countdowns to key deadlines
- Share bite-sized reminders about housing, forms, or campus events
Gen Z overwhelmingly prefers mobile communication, with 74% saying “going online” is their favorite free-time activity, and 75% reporting that their phone is their device of choice.
6. Use Retargeting Ads to Stay Top of Mind
Even after students make a tuition deposit, they’re still researching and comparing. Use paid media to keep your institution front and center with:
- Google Display and YouTube pre-roll ads
- Meta (Instagram and Facebook) retargeting
- Branded search campaigns focused on post-deposit intent
Tailor creative to the melt stage. Think: “Already accepted? Here’s what’s next.”
Want to make sure your paid strategy is actually moving melt-risk students forward? Avoid these 21 most common mistakes higher ed marketers make with digital ads. >>
7. Segment Your Audiences, Personalize Your Messaging
A first-gen undergrad has very different concerns compared to a transfer student or adult learner.
Segment by:
- Student type
- Region
- Program
- Behavior
Then customize your messaging. Use email merge tags, conditional content, and dynamic fields to make every message feel personal—because it should be.
8. Build a Centralized “Next Steps” Hub
Don’t make students dig through their inbox. Create a single, easy-to-navigate landing page where they can:
- See all upcoming deadlines
- Download forms
- Get financial aid and advising contacts
- Register for orientation or housing
Make it mobile-friendly. Include it in every communication. Treat it like the nerve center for enrollment success.
9. Run Campaigns That Target Students and Parents
Parents and guardians are key decision influencers, especially for undergrad students.
Build separate campaign tracks designed just for them:
- Emails that address safety, affordability, and outcomes
- Paid media tailored to their concerns
- Webinars or Q&As just for families
When parents feel informed and confident, students feel supported and are more likely to enroll.
10. Automate Strategic Email Workflows Based on Behavior
You can’t manually follow up with every melt-risk student, but your marketing automation platform can.
Set up behavior-triggered workflows that activate when a student:
- Misses an orientation deadline
- Stops opening emails
- Doesn’t register for classes
- Logs in but doesn’t complete tasks
These workflows can send reminders, share resources, or route high-priority students to a counselor.
11. Offer Live Q&As or Virtual Drop-in Sessions
Sometimes students just need a real person to talk to.
Host virtual office hours or live chat sessions where students can:
- Ask last-minute questions
- Get reassurance from staff or peers
- Solve small problems before they become big ones
Promote these sessions via email, SMS, and social. Record and repurpose them as on-demand content.
12. Track and Respond to Engagement Signals
Your CRM should tell you when students go quiet. Track key metrics such as:
- Portal logins
- Orientation signups
- Form submissions
- Email opens and clicks
- Event attendance
Use that data to triage outreach so that melt-risk students don’t fall through the cracks.
13. Tear Down Silos
Marketing can’t fix summer melt alone. Partner with your enrollment, advising, and financial aid teams to:
- Share data
- Align communications
- Create unified timelines and messaging
- Deliver a seamless student experience
When students get consistent info across departments, they feel confident. When they don’t, they ghost.
14. Use AI Chatbots to Scale Support
Not every question needs a human response. AI-powered chatbots can handle FAQs, send deadline reminders, and guide students through key steps, all without adding to your team’s workload.
Chatbots can live on your website, portal, or mobile app, and many platforms also support SMS delivery. Used well, they don’t replace the personal touch, they can extend it.
Case in point: An AI-powered chatbot reduced summer melt by 20% in one district by sending timely, automated reminders, according to a study cited by the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC).
Keep Students On Track — and Enrollment Goals Within Reach
Summer melt isn’t inevitable, but it is preventable.
With the right mix of personalized messaging, strategic automation, and targeted digital outreach, your institution can keep students engaged and supported throughout every step of enrollment.
Ready to turn melt risk into enrollment wins?
Contact us today to build a summer melt strategy that goes beyond reacting to proactively drive results.
