Working to end student summer melt

CHICAGO (WLS) -- With summer break underway, thousands of students in the Chicago area are preparing for their first year of college. But experts say 10-40 percent of them will not enroll when classes begin in the fall. It's known as summer melt and the occurrence deeply affects low-income households. Across the country, only about nine percent of students from low-income communities graduate from college. But the group OneGoal (http://www.onegoalgraduation.org) is working to change that.

OneGoal serves 5,000 students across nearly 80 Chicago Public Schools to make sure they get to college. In fact, 78 percent of OneGoal Fellows graduate college with a degree. But the organization needs your help to make college dreams become a reality for thousands of other students. You can donate laptops or Visa/Mastercard/Amazon gift cards to go towards supplies and transportation at chicagosupplies@onegoalgraduation.org. You can also mail cards to OneGoal at 215 W Superior, Suite 700, Chicago IL 60654. OneGoal Managing Director of Postsecondary Programs, Melissa Connelly, sat down with ABC 7 Eyewitness News to discuss summer melt, and ways to ensure your students graduate college.

For more information, visit http://www.onegoalgraduation.org.