College Possible: Reducing Summer Melt For Low-Income Students

College Possible is a college access and success organization that provides admissions and college success support to low-income students. College Possible uses Signal Vine to text incoming freshmen from May through August to reduce summer melt for low-income students. Staff also text current college students every month to help them to stay on track to graduate.

Implementation

College Possible collects student phone numbers during the on-boarding process. College Possible coaches are responsible for keeping contact information updated on his or her caseload. Caseloads range from 100 to 200 students per coach. The content of the Summer Melt texting campaign closely models a campaign originally developed by the National College Access Network (NCAN). The main difference is that College Possible’s campaign starts the campaign a little earlier than NCAN in mid-May. Signal Vine’s text messaging platform is the main mode of student-coach communication at College Possible during the summer. Coaches check their Signal Vine message inboxes all day, every day, by keeping the platform open on their computers.

Results

Students in the texting program love that they can text in questions or concerns and get personal, immediate feedback from their coaches. They know that they’re not talking to a robot, but rather they’re connecting directly with someone who understands their current situation and can provide them with accurate and timely assistance. Incoming freshman who get texts during the Summer Melt campaign tend to be the most engaged.

The most common reason students text their coaches is to get help with financial aid. Coaches also benefit from using Signal Vine’s text messaging platform because they can provide personalized and attentive support to more students. “Just. Do. It! It is really effective,” says Program Manager, Nankya Senungi.