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Young people with foster care experience generally want to continue their education after high school, but they face larger barriers to enrolling in college and achieving their educational goals than other college-bound students. Recent data show fewer than 10 percent of young people with foster care experience earn a postsecondary degree by age 23. One key obstacle is the price: college is becoming less affordable, and students with foster care experience often cannot rely on their families for financial support.

Various grants and scholarships, such as the Chafee Education and Training Voucher Program, provide educational funding to young people with foster care histories, and students may be eligible for federal Pell grants, state-level funding, or institutional aid. In California, the new Middle Class Scholarship for Foster Youth (PDF) covers the remaining cost of attendance after requiring eligible students to pay $7,898 annually and after accounting for other grants, scholarships, and aid.

We recently spoke with 57 students eligible for this program to learn more about their experience paying for college. These students all attended a University of California or California State University institution. During our conversations, students noted the importance of the financial aid they received but revealed they often lacked necessary information about the availability and complexity of grants and scholarships.

In this post, we highlight three lessons from these conversations. Although our findings may not be generalizable to all young people with foster care experience, we believe they offer a good starting point for policymakers and others working on educational funding to consider as the costs of college continue to rise.

1. Better, earlier information about funding availability

   We heard that because of the high costs, many students felt they could never attend college. High school counselors, case managers, and other adults failed to inform them about grants, scholarships, or other types of educational funding, potentially because they weren't aware of these opportunities themselves.

   This information, or lack thereof, influenced where and when students enrolled in college. Some decided to attend community college before pursuing a bachelor's degree, and others limited their college search to affordable programs.

   "My biggest fear was that I was going to be taking out loans after loans, and by the time I graduated, I would be in so much debt that I could barely afford to live," one student told us, explaining that they limited their college search to schools "on the safer side pricewise."

   A few students we spoke to did take out unnecessary loans before learning they were eligible for additional educational aid. "If I had known about all these scholarships and everything I was eligible for, I probably wouldn't even have that many loans," another student explained. It took them two years to pay off their loans because nobody told them there were other funding options.

2. More nuanced guidance about the complexity of financial aid offerings

   For students who were told by counselors or case managers about available grants and scholarships, several received inaccurate or oversimplified information. One student remembered being told, "College is free for foster youth," so they thought all they needed to do was pick a college and go. Unfortunately, this student and others under a similar impression soon discovered that navigating educational funding opportunities was more complex.

   One student explained that even though they heard about available funding, they weren't told about "the pros and cons--the ifs and buts--that come with that money." Students who received funding faced a variety of challenges after enrolling in college, including restrictive grant eligibility requirements, complicated financial aid forms, and unexpected expenses. During our conversations, students explained that if they had known about these complexities, they could have better planned for their education and financial stability.

3. Clarity about eligibility limitations on existing scholarships and grants

   Students with foster care experience also commonly voiced frustrations about a lack of communication regarding age restrictions and funding caps. In California, students are no longer eligible for the Chafee Education and Training Voucher after they turn 26, and the federal Pell grant is limited to 12 terms (roughly six years). One student said, "The requirements and the timelines and that kind of stuff wasn't explained to me. I knew that I got the Pell, and I knew the Chafee existed, but I did miss out on a Chafee payment for my first year."

   Most of the students who spoke with us didn't enroll in four-year college immediately after graduating high school. Roughly half attended community college, some pursued full-time jobs, and several postponed college because of parental responsibilities. When this group learned they were no longer eligible for certain funding streams, they felt penalized for choosing an alternative path. We heard from one student who spent most of their Pell granteligible terms in community college and regretted doing so later, once they understood the eligibility restrictions. "[If I had more information] I think I would have completed community college a lot faster," they told us.

Young people with foster care experience need accurate and accessible information about education funding

In our analysis, we found that numerous students with foster care experience had misconceptions about the availability of grants and scholarships, the complexities surrounding educational funding, and the presence of funding restrictions before starting college. Many told us they would have chosen a different educational route if they knew then what they know now.

To better serve students with foster care experience, policymakers, school officials, and other organizations should consider prioritizing accurate and accessible information about funding sources to help students make informed decisions about college. Organizations like John Burton Advocates for Youth have developed resources about postsecondary education for young people with foster care experience, but more work is needed to connect prospective students with these resources.

As one student told us, "Money should be the last thing that stops anyone from getting an education. It's very stressful but it shouldn't be as stressful as it is and stop you from achieving your goals."

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The Urban Institute podcast, Evidence in Action, inspires changemakers to lead with evidence and act with equity. Cohosted by Urban President Sarah Rosen Wartell and Executive Vice President Kimberlyn Leary, every episode features in-depth discussions with experts and leaders on topics ranging from how to advance equity, to designing innovative solutions that achieve community impact, to what it means to practice evidence-based leadership.

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