Latinx Pandemic Melt: A Phenomenological Study of Summer Melt during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Latinx students are becoming the majority population in K-12 public schools in the United States. Despite higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and non-profit organizations working to increase Latinx college admission rates, these students continue to be underrepresented in four-year colleges/universities. Latinx students who successfully overcome the multiple barriers to become eligible, apply, and admitted into a university may find their post-secondary plans disintegrate during the summer months between high school graduation and college matriculation (Rall, 2016; Tichavakunda & Galan, 2020). This is a time period where traditionally neither the high school nor the intended college take responsibility for these students or support their transition, resulting in the failure of some students to matriculate at their intended post-secondary institution. Summer melt is a term applied to students that apply to college, are accepted to college, but melt away from the enrollment cycle in the summer months prior to the fall term for various reasons (Castleman & Page, 2014). This phenomenological study collected data from semi-structured interviews with California Latinx students who planned to attend university immediately after high school graduation in 2020 but did not actually matriculate at a four-year institution. The goal was to better understand the lived experiences of Latinx summer melt students as well as explore factors that influenced their final college decision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study participants discussed the challenges they encountered during their college application and enrollment process and how they navigated these obstacles utilizing different supports and forms of community cultural wealth. The challenges students faced during their journey to college were COVID-19 pandemic, college cost and family finances, difficulty completing college enrollment tasks, and personal challenges. Students received support during their college transition process from family, near-age peers, high school staff, college access program staff, and community college staff. The major forms of CCW students utilized in the pursuit of their college goals were aspirational, familial, social and navigational while the least forms of capital used were resistant and linguistic