Funding Student Success: Scholarships for Former Foster Youth

Affordability remains a top concern for students entering higher education and pursuing a postsecondary degree. A recent Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found 55 percent of current students want their institution to make tuition more affordable to improve their academic success.

For former foster youth, paying for college can be a challenge without family support. A 2023 report from the University of California, Los Angeles’s Center for the Transformation of Schools found financial support is often inadequate for these students, and many institutions lack financial resources to support foster youth.

An August report from the Urban Institute evaluated California’s Middle-Class Scholarship (MCS) for Foster Youth program, the number of students it impacted and how the funding increased student success at California colleges.

What’s the need: Students with foster care experience are less likely to enroll in college and earn a degree, and one of the large challenges in their educational attainment is paying for tuition and personal expenses as well as juggling work while enrolled. Former foster youth who work while in college have lower completion rates compared to their peers who do not, but a large share of students use their wages to pay for college, creating a cyclical problem and making financial support vital for their success.

In California, around 18,000 students who enrolled in higher ed in fall 2023 self-identified as having foster care history.

Foster care youth in the state are eligible for Pell Grants (which covers a maximum of $7,935 per year) and the Education and Training Vouchers program, which provides vouchers up to $5,000, as well as the California College Promise Grant, Cal Grant, Cal Grant Access Award for Foster Youth and Student Success Completion Grant. Private grants and scholarships also help fund the educational attainment of students with foster care experiences.

“However, not all eligible students know about these resources or are applying for them,” according to the report. One study found only 58 percent of learners used their ETV and 61 percent used a Pell Grant. Satisfactory academic progress requirements can also disqualify former foster youth from scholarship eligibility.

The scholarship: MCS is a state financial aid program that provides low- and middle-income undergraduate students a scholarship if they are enrolled at one of the state’s four-year programs at a University of California, California State University or California Community College campus, according to a John Burton Advocates for Youth resource.

To qualify for the program, a student must be a California resident, submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid and enroll at least part-time. They must also have a demonstrated need of more than $7,898 after accounting for federal, state and institutional grants, scholarships and fee waivers.

Students are expected to contribute $7,898 a year (which could be covered by work, savings, private scholarships and/or institutionally awarded dollars for basic needs), and the program covers 100 percent of the remaining cost of attendance.

The program is designed to help students enroll at four-year institutions and programs, but the self-contribution may still be too high for a student with foster care history to cover themselves, the report argues.

Dollars at work: During the 2023–24 academic year, the first year of the program, 796 foster youth received the MCS, resulting in $4.6 million in financial aid distributed.

Students with foster care history were less likely to receive the scholarship compared to other low-income students because they weren’t enrolled full-time, didn’t meet academic progress requirements or did not have enough unmet need.

Most of the former foster students who received MCS funding attended a California State University institution (95 percent). The remaining 5 percent attended a University of California institution, meaning no students with foster care history in a bachelor’s program at a community college got the aid.

The average awarded amount was $5,700, greater than other low-income scholarship recipients, but only 0.8 percent of all MCS funding went to former foster youth.

Learning from students: The Urban Institute also conducted 13 focus groups with former foster youth (representing 57 students) who were eligible for MCS funding and spoke with 38 staff members from the UC and CSU systems to understand more about how financial aid impacts student persistence. They noted issues such as:

• Lack of clarity. The majority of students expressed frustration at the lack of information about financial aid they were eligible for. Some students said they were encouraged to attend college and told there would be grants and scholarships to help them in that process, but this information was nebulous, not entirely true or not useful in applying and receiving aid. Former foster youth also didn’t know about time limits on some programs (such as the Pell Grant) and that they could lose funding based on enrollment status.
• Decision-making factors. The information foster youth did receive about financial aid influenced their enrollment decisions and their status as a full- or part-time student. Roughly half of focus group participants started at a community college before transferring because of lower tuition costs, flexibility in their schedule and lower admissions requirements. Others delayed enrollment entirely, opting to work or join the military, because of the financial constraints. Many participants said they would have made different decisions about college if they had known what they know now, but some remained unaware of educational funding opportunities.
• Looming personal expenses. Most students had tuition covered by their financial aid, but living expenses and other basic needs (including food, gas, phone bill, car insurance, childcare and emergency expenses) required almost all students to work. Working while enrolled negatively impacted students’ academic success and mental health while in college, as they had to juggle conflicting schedules, childcare and deadlines.
• Academic pressures. To maintain eligibility for financial aid programs, students had to achieve certain grades, which caused stress and frustration because many had to work to stay enrolled, but working reduced their time to study, which in turn impacted their grades and financial stability.

What works: In interviews, students noted some ways in which navigating financial aid or their college experience was less difficult, including:

• Specific and accessible guidance. Among students who had positive support in the financial aid process, they had guidance from knowledgeable individuals who provided detailed explanations and assistance in the application process. One-on-one attention, consistent reminders and accurate information can help students develop a greater understanding of funding opportunities.
• College resources. Some students spoke about how their institution was the right choice for them based on the support offered or their sense of fit. Students enrolled in community colleges, in particular, spoke about the financial and social support for former foster youth provided by the college that guided them through administrative processes.
• On-campus employment. Working students who held an on-campus job with limited hours and who had supervisors who understood their priorities as a student were more likely to say employment didn’t impact their academics. The location of their job also made it more convenient for them.

Based on students’ insights, researchers offer recommendations for policymakers and institutions to increase the impact of the MCS for former foster youth’s success in college, including reconsidering cost-of-living calculations, reducing self-help contributions of the MCS, relaxing academic performance standards, providing in-person and peer support, and improving transparency and messaging.

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