Introduction
Each year, approximately 20,000 young adults in foster care transition to independent living. A majority of these young people want to pursue postsecondary education, but they are less likely to enroll in postsecondary institutions than their peers who have not interacted with the child welfare system. To address this gap, federal and state programs have been implemented to address barriers and provide supports to pursue a college degree. In 2001, as an amendment to the Chafee Foster Care Independence Act, the Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program became the first federal program aimed to assist young adults in or formerly in foster care with their postsecondary educational needs
Purpose
These factsheets describe the annual number and amount of ETV awards, characteristics of ETV recipients and their chosen schools, and preliminary statistics on postsecondary education participation for 10 states’ ETV programs. This analysis is descriptive, and statistics presented here should not be interpreted as program impacts. It is part of a broader evaluation of the ETV programs utilizing administrative data from California, (PDF) Colorado (PDF), Illinois (PDF), Florida (PDF), Missouri (PDF), New Jersey (PDF), Ohio (PDF), Oregon (PDF), Pennsylvania (PDF), and Tennessee (PDF).
Key Findings and Highlights
- In all ten states, many young adults eligible for ETVs do not receive them. Thirty-one percent of all ETV-eligible young people attended college, and of those who attended college, only 37 percent attended with an ETV voucher.
- ETV-eligible young females, young people who were identified as Black, and young adults who emancipated were more likely to enroll in college with an ETV than other ETV eligible young adults.
- Compared with ETV-eligible young people who attended college but did not receive ETVs, young people who received vouchers were more likely to enroll in four-year schools, enroll in in-state schools, and be enrolled in college full time.
- Receiving an ETV was correlated with better educational outcomes for young adults. Young adults receiving an ETV were more likely to complete two semesters of college (one year) and graduate by age 24 compared to ETV-eligible young adults who did not receive an ETV.
These factsheets present descriptive statistics on the ETV program and youth who participate. The results in this study cannot be interpreted as estimates of the impact of ETVs on persistence because analyses cannot control for selection into the ETV program. It is possible that young adults who are more diligent are more likely to enroll in the ETV program and are also more likely to persist and graduate from college.
Methods
This analysis linked multiple administrative data sources to evaluate ETV program participation and educational outcomes. Child welfare administrative data was matched on the foster care histories of all young adults who could be eligible for ETV from 10 states with ETV program data and National Student Clearinghouse data on college enrollment and attainment. Using these data, the factsheets describe the annual number and amount of ETV awards in each state, characteristics of that state’s ETV recipients and their chosen schools, and preliminary statistics on young people’s postsecondary education participation.