Society Failing Foster Youth Despite Uptick in College Programs, Report by

Watchdog Non-Profit First Star Institute

First nationwide study of over 600 public 4-year colleges finds inadequate services, aid.

Washington, DC, May 24, 2018 --(PR.com)-- The first national picture of college-based programs to
support foster youth was presented to Congress Tuesday. The report, “Foster Youth Success in College,”
issued by the Washington-DC based First Star Institute, surveyed more than 600 public 4-year colleges
and universities. It documents the inadequacy of financial aid, including loans, received by foster youth
and former foster youth attending college. It also outlined college-based programs that help students who
were or are in foster care overcome challenges and graduate.

Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-MI, spoke at the Report's release Tuesday, “The numbers clearly show that these
students, who overwhelmingly want to obtain an education, are not receiving the support they need to
achieve their goal.” The Report found “foster care alumni are a uniquely vulnerable population that
society stepped in to parent . . . [but] failed. . . Foster care alumni experience homelessness and
unemployment at rates that far exceed the general population. Only 3-8% of Foster Care Alumni end up
with 4-year degrees, compared with more than a third of the general population.”

Principal author of the Report, Noy Davis, states, “Colleges can do so much more to support these college
students from foster care - by assigning a single point of contact at the university, providing housing
during breaks and other services. And adequate financial aid for these students is essential to getting these
students through college and changing society's failure to support its foster youth in college.”

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Contact Information:
First Star Institute
Noy Davis
202-800-8411
Contact via Email
www.firststarinstitute.org

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You can read the online version of this press release at: https://www.pr.com/press-release/754743

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