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Best Laid Plans: Why Do University Applicants Change Their Minds?
The amount of low-income students enrolling in universities in the U.S. continues to lag behind their wealthier peers. While research has focused on income and academic preparation, a new study in Social Science Quarterlyexplores the ‘summer melt’, when university-bound school leavers change their mind before reaching enrollment.
The study found that 22 percent of the lowest income, university-intending students failed to enroll at the end of their summer break. This prevalence of ‘summer melt’ is surprisingly high, especially given that students in both samples have already overcome major hurdles to successful college enrollment.
The authors found that students who scored low on 10th grade cognitive tests were more likely to ‘melt’ than their higher scoring peers.