The Opportunity Gap
Youth with foster care experience are not attending or remaining in college at the same rates as their peers.
- 84% of foster youth ages 17-18 say they want to go to college (Legal Center for Foster Care & Education, 2022)
- 3-11% of youth with foster care experience earn a college degree in comparison to the ~38% national average (Legal Center for Foster Care & Education, 2022)
- 5,000 youth 13-20 in care at any given point in time in Pennsylvania who are eligible for pre-college supports
- 22 programs currently in operation or development to support youth with foster care experience on college campuses in Pennsylvania
- 510 youth currently utilizing the Chafee Grant in Pennsylvania — To learn more, visit Chafee Education and Training Grant (Chafee ETG) Program
Call to Action
- Expand campus supports in Pennsylvania
- Fund and support designated staff to encourage and provide resources to youth wit foster care experience at more schools
- Listen to and support existing programs so that they can grow
- Encourage the provision of year round housing to students in or aged out of foster care
- Create more college readiness programs for youth in care in Pennsylvania
- Develop programming for high school students to support the college process (ex. Fostering College Readiness in Phila.)
- Fund and support college exposure opportunities for high school students (ex. The Andlor Program at Bloomsburg University)
- Reevaluate tuition waiver and who is eligible for it
- Expand eligibility of waiver from those who were in care at 16 at the youngest to those who were 14 and older
- Make the tuition waiver cover the entire cost of attendance and not only tuition
- Increase training opportunities for professionals working with older youth in care
- Help professionals find, access and utilize the resources available for youth in care
- Invest in local and state professional development opportunities, including webinars, seminars and conferences
Pennsylvania can help
The Field Center is a member of the Fostering Academic Achievement Nationwide Network
Graphic created in partnership with FAAN's data advocacy initiative, copyright 2022