Summer melt refers to the phenomenon in which a high school senior’s intention to attend college in the fall “melts away” during the summer. The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) calculates the summer melt rate as the percentage of graduating 12th grade student who intend to go to college but do not matriculate within the first fall after graduation. A higher summer melt rate indicates a lower college matriculation rate for college-intending seniors.

This slide deck presents summer melt findings for the class of 2024-25.

Key findings include:

• Of the 2024-25 Senior Exit Survey respondents planning to attend college after graduation, 42.5% experienced summer melt, compared to 40.5% in 2023-24.
• Students who intended to enroll in a four-year institution had lower summer melt rates than those who intended to enroll in a two-year/other institution type.
• Hispanic/Latine, Black/African American, and Multi-Racial students experienced higher rates of summer melt than White and Asian students.