ERIC Number: EJ1436157
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Aug
Pages: 33
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-0365
EISSN: EISSN-1573-188X
Combating Summer Melt: The Impact of Near-Peer Mentor Matriculation Program in New York City
Vivian Yuen Ting Liu; Alexandra Haralampoudis; Isabel Polon
Research in Higher Education, v65 n5 p794-826 2024
College education plays a crucial role in upward social mobility. However, despite applying to and being accepted by colleges, students often fail to matriculate -- a phenomenon known as "summer melt". The summer after high school graduation is a vulnerable period for these students due to limited counseling support from both high schools and accepted colleges. While summer counseling has been studied as an intervention to address summer melt, little research exists on programs using "near-peer" counselors, despite evidence from smaller-scale interventions suggesting their positive impact and cost-effectiveness. This study utilizes administrative data for 54,000 New York City high school seniors who graduated in June 2020 at the peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic. It aims to examine the impact of a remote near-peer college matriculation support program on students' enrollment in Fall 2020 using propensity score matching. The results indicate that the program increased matriculation by seven percentage points. Notably, it proved particularly effective for Black and Hispanic students, as well as students residing in low-income neighborhoods -- groups that are typically underserved in higher education. These findings, drawn from the largest public school system in the nation, offer evidence supporting the efficacy of near-peer mentoring programs in promoting college matriculation.
Descriptors: High School Seniors, Social Mobility, Higher Education, Summer Programs, Post High School Guidance, School Counselors, Peer Counseling, College Enrollment, Admission (School), Program Effectiveness, Minority Group Students, African American Students, Hispanic American Students, High School Graduates, College Bound Students, Public Schools
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2123/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York (New York)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A