MOCAN – Missouri College & Career Attainment Network

Increasing equity in college and career for Missouri students

College Access

Tackling Summer Melt in the Fall

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Caroline Dogolio, National College Attainment Network

Despite fall still being its early days, it’s never too early to think about freezing summer melt. It’s estimated that every year between 10-40% of college-intending students fail to enroll in college the fall after high school graduation. This is a phenomenon that disproportionately impacts students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, and first-generation students.

Understanding the Problem

Like many other issues in postsecondary education, finding the solution begins at learning more about the predicament. For summer melt, this means measuring the percentage of students that are not matriculating. While getting this number can take some effort, having this knowledge is well worth it.

For many, a senior exit survey can serve as the perfect jumping off point. Harvard’s Strategic Data Project Summer Melt Handbook offers resources on increasing completion and what exactly to include in the survey with examples. The guide advises that the more specific questions are, the better. These questions should include what students’ enrollment plans are and if they have paid their enrollment deposit.

With an understanding of how many students planned on enrolling, data from the National Student Clearinghouse’s (NSC) StudentTracker service will provide the numerator in this equation (e.g., how many students truly enrolled).

Knowing the percentage of students melting each year is a great place to begin intervening, but even better is identifying groups of students melting at a higher rate than others.

Prevention

Summer melt can serve as a motivator to strengthen K-12 and higher ed pipelines. NCAN’s understanding of enrollment trends across the country is that there are typical institutions that receive high proportions of students matriculating from the same high schools each year.

The Puget Sound College and Career Network created a number of checklists for their students’ popular college choices to ease the application process and the transition. These one-page cheat-sheets lists tasks, deadlines, “good to know” information, and contact information.

Along with these cheat-sheets, identifying these institutions can serve as a motivator to form relationships between high schools and their students’ popular college destinations. Edutopia has some suggestions on programs that can serve as a win for both parties:

  • Getting volunteers for an after-school STEM programs
  • Inviting guest speakers to discuss career pathways
  • Collaborating on a grant that could bring professional development for school staff

One idea not outlined by Edutopia, but worth exploring is inviting staff from financial aid offices to present or assist with FAFSA completion. These personnel can provide some expert knowledge not only on financial aid questions that may come out of the FAFSA but also on related topics such as how to read an award letter, what student can expect in financial aid packages, and the financial aid appeal process.

These partnerships will vary vastly from school to school, but the University of California system offers several great ideas that can be used throughout the entire K-12 spectrum.

Along with the resources outlined in this post, NCAN provides a Summer Melt Toolkit along with our K-12 Advising Calendar which has a summer melt category.

Have questions about summer melt? We’d love to hear from you! Contact me at Caroline Doglio ([email protected]) to hear more about approaches to freezing summer melt.

FAFSA Season is Here – Here’s How to Prepare

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College Campus

Caroline Doglio, Program Associate at National College Attainment Network

With October comes all the exciting autumnal things, trees changing colors, Halloween, and the opening of FAFSA season. As FAFSA numbers continue to grow, getting closer to pre-pandemic numbers slowly but surely, we’re sure schools remain eager to raise those numbers even higher. NCAN has a robust library of resources that we are happy to provide in these efforts.

The Class of 2022 began to show signs of rebounding from the pandemic. FAFSA completion grew 4.6% by this past July 1 nationally, though we are still not at pre-pandemic numbers. This growth represents approximately 52.1% of seniors in 2022 completing the FAFSA. By comparison, the pre-pandemic class of 2019 finished at 53.8%. Alabama and Texas were standout states in terms of year-over-year growth, and, notably, both implemented an universal FAFSA policy this past academic year.

District and schools, and the myriad professionals that make them run, have their work cut out for them. There have never been more demands on counselors, teachers, district and school leaders, and the other caring adults that pave the way for students toward college and career readiness. The past three years have been devastatingly difficult, and the prospect of helping students complete the FAFSA, a notoriously not-fun form, may be daunting.

It doesn’t have to be. We’re here to help.

This month NCAN will begin sending out our first of this cycle’s monthly reminder emails. These emails are geared towards K-12 practitioners and supply suggested to-dos depending on where in the cycle we are, as well as help in catching up if needed or what to look ahead for. Those interested can sign up for these emails is here.

These emails can be used conjointly with NCAN’s FAFSA resource library, which has a monthly calendar of action items as well as resources on actives that can promote FAFSA completion such as: 

  • A FAFSA planning calendar
  • Info on laying the groundwork and engaging external partners
  • Completing the actual FAFSA form
  • Training and capacity building
  • Communication
  • Accessing and using data

Need more on how to put together an effective FAFSA completion campaign? We’ve got that, too.

By the way, NCAN’s Form Your Future FAFSA Tracker, which counts completions at the national, state, city, district, and school levels, will return for the sixth straight year in early October.

More specific to this FAFSA cycle, FSA is introducing multi-factor authentication, or as they’re calling it, “two-step verification.” NCAN understands that this introduction will likely create barriers for students located in places with limited Internet or cell phone reception or in school districts that have restrictive cell phone and Internet policies. These barriers may bring a different array of questions to practitioners than in years past. To help prepare for this adjustment, NCAN has an article outlining the process, with tips and resources from FSA.

NCAN College & Career Readiness Fellows Announced

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Mid-July the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) announced its fellows selected to participate in its College and Career Readiness Fellows Program. The Fellows Program aims to develop a cohort of school personnel to lead the college and career readiness work in their district/school. The program will focus on three primary areas: 1) delivering an effective student support model and activities to develop student college and career readiness; 2) tracking and analyzing data to use in effective decision-making that drives practice; and 3) developing an efficient administrative model for managing college and career readiness work.  

NCAN selected 15 Fellows to participate from 12 different states, 2 Fellows were selected in Missouri! We are extremely proud to announce the Missouri Fellows and look forward to bringing what they learn back to the students of Missouri.  

Joyce Nguyen Hernandez, College Access Coordinator

Kansas City Public Schools

Joyce Nguyen Hernandez is a longtime Kansas City, Missouri educator for over twenty years in the public school system. As an English instructor, she prepared many students for International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, and dual credit courses. Her style of teaching embraces rigor, engagement, and joy. 

Additionally, she worked for two members of Congress as a District Aide assisting constituents with federal issues and concerns regarding IRS, veterans, immigration, and other agencies. She is a first-generation college graduate and first-generation U.S. citizen. Her family’s background as Vietnamese refugees, educators, and volunteers greatly influences her interactions with families and personal philosophies.  

Joyce is a proud graduate of Kansas City’s Bishop Hogan High School and Rockhurst University with a master’s degree in literacy. As a classroom teacher of juniors and seniors, her interest in guiding students through their college and scholarship application process grew each year to meet their needs. 

Currently, she serves in the Department of Equity, Inclusion, and Innovation as the Manager for College Access and Success for the Kansas City Public Schools system. Joyce and her new staff of College Access Specialists are committed to reduce barriers by strategically supporting students as they visit postsecondary programs, apply to college, and seek out scholarships and financial aid. 

Kimberly Merrill, Dual Credit and Early School Counselor

University City High School

Kimberly Merrill is a Professional School Counselor and currently serves as the Dual Credit and Early School Counselor at University City High School. She has worked with the St. Louis Internship Program as a Student and Training Development Specialist for the last ten years and has provided direct college and career counseling services for students since February 2008. 

Kimberly holds a B.S. in geography from Northwest Missouri State University, an M.A. in teaching and professional school counseling from Lindenwood University, and Professional School Counseling Certification at the secondary level.  When Kimberly is not only engaging with University City High School Students and St. Louis Internship Program students, she is providing educational support, career counseling or event coordination to a number of organizations. Through her many endeavors, Kimberly is committed to ensuring that every student she serves graduates from high school fully prepared to enter into their best fit post-secondary college and careers endeavors.   Kimberly is the mother of one daughter who loves to travel and spend time with her family. 

Key Questions to Ask Before the School Year Starts

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Bill DeBaun, Senior Director of Data and Strategic Initiatives

I get it: no one wants to talk about to-do lists in August. For many, August is when we’re clinging to the last few weeks of summer vacation and pointedly not talking about the start of the impending school year.  

Still, sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, the school doors will also open soon enough, and when they do, we should be ready to meet and prepare our students for pursuing college and career pathways.  

August is a time for rest and relaxation, but also readiness. In that spirit, here are four questions that district and school leaders and staff, school counselors, and anyone else in students’ orbit should ponder and prepare for as they turn toward the start of the 2022-23 academic year and some key resources for helping to answer that question. 

  1. Who’s focused on college career readiness? Who else should be? Each district and school doesn’t necessarily have personnel specifically focused on postsecondary pathways. Even in those districts and schools who do, everyone who should have a seat at the table doesn’t always get one. District-level staff, school leaders and counselors, teachers, community-based partners, students, and parents all have a role to play in helping students explore their options and pursue their next, best step. It’s important to ask whether you’ve got a college and career readiness team and, if not, to work toward convening one to collaborate on a plan. 
    Key Resource: UnlockED’s Harnessing the Power of Postsecondary Data Building a Student-Centered, Data-Driven Strategy, see: “Establish a Coalition” 
  1. How am I getting feedback from students about their postsecondary plans? Most districts and schools are familiar with delivering senior exit surveys, but is this really the ideal timing to collect that information? By the time seniors fill out that survey, there’s very little window for schools and staff to shift their plans. Why not collect that data in the fall of senior year, or even better yet, the spring of junior year to get the insights early and connect students with the best available resources and supports according to their responses? Surveys often get eyerolls because there aren’t good plans for what to do with the resulting data, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Keep the questions lean and focus on the ones whose answers are actionable. The surveys needn’t be exclusive to seniors. Getting information about students’ aspirations, questions, and needs as early as freshman year extends plenty of time to staff to get students what they need. 

Key Resources: Iowa College Aid’s Beginning-of-Year Student Survey; College Advising Corps Career Aspiration Survey; Broward County Schools Senior Exit Survey 

  1. Where are my college-bound students likely to matriculate? Data from the National Student Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker for High Schools ($595/high school/year) service provides subscribers with the top 25 enrollment destinations for up to their past eight high school graduating classes. Most students’ matriculation patterns are place-based; that is, students tend to go to college near where they went to high school. Conventional wisdom runs strong in high schools about where students go, but it’s always helpful to check the data for confirmation. Once you’ve got a better sense of the high school-to-college pipeline, ask yourself some more questions: 1. Do I have a good relationship with these institutions? If yes, how can they continue to help me with activities like FAFSA completion? If not, how can I promote one? 2. How do my students do when they get to these institutions? If not so well, is there an alternative that gives them a better chance of graduating? 

Key Resource: Answering Key Questions with Your NSC Student Tracker for High School Reports 

  1. What does my plan for FAFSA completion look like this academic year? Sure, we’re in August, but October 1, the opening date of the next FAFSA cycle, will be here before we know it. Some students will complete the FAFSA by osmosis, but most won’t, so which kinds of activities can your district or school engage in to increase the number of students who do? NCAN has a whole resource library dedicated to this topic, which includes planning calendars, communications strategies, and more. Not sure about where to access student-level FAFSA data in your state? We’ve got a handy list here. 

Key Resources: College & Career Readiness Calendar for High Schools; NCAN’s FAFSA Resource Library 

Going for the high score in college and career readiness and interested in more activities? NCAN has a comprehensive calendar that suggests activities and resources for every month of the year. Of course, NCAN is also here to help so feel free to email me at [email protected]. There are other questions that are important to ask, of course, beyond the above, but it is still August after all, so we can file this under “a good start.” Stay tuned for more suggestions and resources in the coming months. 

Use Fit and Match to Increase Students’ Success

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Bill DeBaun, National College Attainment Network

Among students who entered college in the fall of 2015, about 60% completed a degree or certificate six years later. Just three out of every five students who jump through all of the hoops, complete all of the forms, wade through all of the processes and actually matriculate wind up with a credential six years later. It’s worth noting that figure varies by state (check out tab 2 in the report’s data visualization).

We would never tolerate a leak in our house that let out 40% of our water, but when we consider a leak of this magnitude in our college completion pipeline, policymakers and the public don’t seem to consider the problem with the same urgency. They should; stopouts represent lost time for students, significant financial burden in terms of loans, and foregone increases to human capital in the form of health, economic, and civic outcomes. It costs students, their families, and our communities, states, and nation when students don’t complete.

Our college completion leak starts well before the first college semester, and there’s something we can do to help address it. One of the most important things schools, community-based programs, and everyone involved in advising a student can do is to make sure they wind up at the right postsecondary institution for them in the first place.

Recent research from NCAN and the Vela Institute found that in a large sample of high school graduates across the country, 81.3% of students had another postsecondary institution within 50 miles of their high school that had a higher postsecondary completion rate than where the student actually matriculated. Additionally, the average student in the study’s sample from a lowest-income high school had a nearby postsecondary alternative with a projected completion rate nearly 37 percentage points higher than where the student actually first attended.

All of this boils down to the idea that where students matriculate to college matters as much as whether they do so, and changes in matriculation can have a big effect on the likelihood of eventual completion.

The concepts of academic “fit” and “match” are likely well-known to most readers here, but for a quick refresher, “match” is how well-aligned a student’s academic profile (e.g., GPA, admissions test scores) is with the institutions’ student body. “Fit” is a more ephemeral concept that describes how well an institution meets all of a students’ other needs and preferences (e.g., location, size, academic and extracurricular programming, atmosphere, and so much more).

Whether fit and match are new friends or old standbys for you, NCAN has a series of resources specifically designed to meet districts, schools, programs, and practitioners where they are and advance the use of these concepts:

  • First, check out the Fit & Match Toolkit, which is a good crash course and offers thoughts on platforms to track fit and match.
  • Next, to see how these concepts get introduced in a real-life context, this blog post documents Springfield (MA) Public Schools’ professional development around fit and match and summer melt.
  • Not to be outdone, Achieve Atlanta and Atlanta Public Schools came together to create a Match & Fit List Builder; it may seem complicated, but this is something within reach for most districts who have a StudentTracker subscription with the National Student Clearinghouse.
  • Finally, when it’s time to roll up your sleeves and do the deepest dive, NCAN’s eLearning unit on college fit and match is a comprehensive look at the concepts, platforms, and advising strategies that lead to increasing students’ likelihood of getting to the institution that meets their aspiration and ability.

If more students across the country received postsecondary advising through the lens of fit and match, it’s likely we’d see completion rates rise over time. No matter where your program or organization’s current practice is, take a look at the resources above and see if there isn’t some way to augment advising and provide students with options that even better fit (and match) their needs.

Group of College Students

Solidify K12-Higher Education Connections to Firm Up Students’ Next Steps

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Bill DeBaun, National College Attainment Network

There are few more poignant moments than when students cross the stage and receive their high school diplomas. At that moment, families, district and school administrators, teachers, and everyone else who has helped the student get to this point see so much of their time and effort realized.

Borrowing a page from every commencement speech ever written, that K-12 culmination is also a new beginning and, for many, a new pathway toward college and/or career.

As students take their first steps toward that new pathway, do district and school personnel really know where their students are going? Unfortunately, the answer too often is “no” or “not really.”

Sure, most schools monitor acceptances and conduct senior exit surveys to better understand students’ post-high school plans, but that knowledge is too infrequently paired with practice that ensures students fulfill those plans.

National College Attainment Network often writes about summer melt (and publishes resources about the same). Summer melt is a phenomenon that affects 10-40% of high school students intending to matriculate to a postsecondary institution. We offer suggestions like making sure to measure summer melt, creating college transition checklists, building a summer melt program, and using our summer melt toolkit to be proactive.

One key practice left unconsidered was how to forge stronger connections between K-12 districts and school and the postsecondary institutions to which their students matriculate. When we talk about the “silos” between the K-12 and higher education sectors, what that looks like in practice is that districts and institutions don’t have consistent, meaningful, or productive contact that could benefit students. Existing connections might include scheduling tours for students to visit a campus or getting more posters for the counselors’ suite, but K-12 and higher education need outreach to build deeper, sustained, less transactional relationships.

Our sense from talking with districts and schools across the country is that substantial proportions of their students matriculate to a handful of institutions, with a long tail of additional institutions getting one or just a few students each year. Our other sense, unfortunately, is that few districts and schools have close professional contact with the institutions welcoming most of their graduates. That lack of contact makes it so there is no formal hand-off of students, and they can fall through the cracks, or “melt” as described above.

Now is the time for school district administrators to look at their senior exit survey data or, even better, their previous National Student Clearinghouse StudentTracker data to see which combination of institutions comprises the largest proportion of students’ destinations. (By the way, summer is the best time to update your StudentTracker Graduates file so that it is ready to go when fall enrollment data become available).

Next, conduct outreach to those institutions, through the admissions or financial aid offices or student support services. See how district and college or university staff can work together to ease students’ transitions. Maybe that is as simple as the university co-creating or developing a college transition checklist (or reviewing an existing one for accuracy and making any needed additions). But maybe it’s a more intensive partnership that includes personalized outreach to students that can answer their matriculation questions. The possibilities are endless, but none of them will come to fruition without there being contact between K-12 and higher education.

Summer is the right time to do this because both sectors know this is a perilous time of year in a particularly perilous moment for many students, and there is a concrete goal for both sides: making sure students achieve their postsecondary aspirations. Let’s break down the K-12/higher education silo and forge the connections that can help students in the class of 2022 and beyond.