Challenges in Identification of College Students with Experiences of Foster Care

Background and Purpose: Campus-based support programs are increasingly developing to improve higher education outcomes for students with experiences of foster care. Identifying students can be challenging, which can impact college access and programs’ ability to address unmet needs and challenges encountered in higher education (Geiger & Beltran, 2017; Watt et al., 2019). In addition to self-identification, some programs rely on a single question on the on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or statewide application for admission to public institutions (Dworsky & Perez, 2010; Piel et al., 2020). Thirty-seven states provide a waiver of tuition and fees which can also be used to identify students (John Burton Advocates for Youth, 2022); however, some research suggests less than half of those eligible for the tuition and fee waiver are utilizing it (Watt & Faulkner, 2020). The current study seeks to understand the consistency in identification of students with experiences of foster care in higher education to increase financial and tangible support offered on campus.

Methods: Administrative records for 284,266 students across three postsecondary institutions in a southwestern metropolitan area were analyzed to examine enrollment, identification of students with experiences of foster care, and involvement in campus-based support programming. Descriptive analyses were used to examine methods and consistency of identification for groups within the sample. Indicators analyzed included identification through 1) receipt of the state tuition and fee waiver, 2) self-identification on the statewide public college and university application, 3) self-identification on the FAFSA, and campus-based support programming involvement across three academic years (2019-2022). The tuition and fee waiver requires validation with the public child welfare agency, versus self-identification on the FAFSA or statewide application, so this was used as the primary indicator.

Results: Of the overall student population, 5.7% (n=16,337) identified as having experiences of foster care: 7.7% (n=1,252) were identified through the tuition and fee waiver, 11.1% (n=1,814) self-identified on the FAFSA, and the largest group (n=14,884) self-identified on the statewide application. Of the 1,252 students who received the tuition and fee waiver, only about a third (n=216) also indicated foster care history on the FAFSA and statewide application; 328 only indicated foster care history on the tuition and fee waiver. Of those students identified, 4.7% (n=774) engaged in ongoing services in campus-based support programming while an additional 8.4% (n=1,377) received outreach or short-term support.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest there are inconsistencies in the identification of students with experiences of foster care in college. We would expect to see cross-category identification in those identified by the tuition and fee waiver with FAFSA and the statewide application, however, there is not a consistent pattern identified. This exploratory research can be used to inform recruitment efforts of campus-based support programs, to include a broad scope in identifying students who may qualify for financial and community resources beyond a single indicator. Increasing awareness of resources and overall recruitment efforts may increase the number of students engaged in campus-based support programs and improve college retention.