This June, millions of graduating high school seniors across the country may worry about what they will wear or about not tripping as they walk across the stage, or, if they have a name like mine, worry that someone may mispronounce it. But after the applause and the tossing of caps, thousands of high school graduates in America’s foster care system who are heading to college will face a much deeper anxiety around the transition to higher education at the very moment when they are aging out of foster care.
As a developmental psychologist, lecturer, researcher, and former residential care staffer for young people living in group homes, I have seen firsthand how foster youth are expected to navigate this major educational transition on their own. Where they previously had help with housing and finances, and caseworkers to offer guidance, after graduating from high school they lose access to those supports. For foster youth, this juncture is associated with increased risks of homelessness, financial instability, and involvement with the criminal justice system. The numbers are stark: an estimated one in four will experience homelessness within four years of aging out, and within six years, 81% of young men and 59% of young women have been arrested, compared to just 17% and 4% of their peers in the general population. These outcomes fall hardest on Black youth, who are placed in foster care at nearly twice the rate of their white peers, according to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System’s 2025 data report.
With these dire outcomes, it comes as no surprise that many youth in foster care seek a postsecondary degree and the associated benefits relating to independence, financial stability, and employment. However, a 2025 systematic review led by University of Connecticut found that only 8 to 12 percent of youth with experience in foster care earn either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, compared to almost 50 percent of the general population. This is despite the fact that between 29 and 64 percent of foster youth enroll in postsecondary education. For these reasons, as the next freshman class prepares to arrive on campus, colleges and universities must step in to provide sustainability and support for those who have been in foster care. .
As a professor on an HBCU campus, I have taught students who are or have been involved with foster care, and I have seen firsthand the practical challenges they face. I have watched students struggle to complete their assignments while worrying about where they will stay during winter, spring, and summer breaks. These breaks can range from one week to several months long, creating significant housing instability for those who have aged out of foster care and lack the familial support many of their peers rely on. One of my students spent Thanksgiving break alone in a hotel because they had no family home to return to once their residence hall closed for the holiday. Another worked two jobs throughout the semester to afford off-campus housing. Stable housing, consistent supportive relationships, and reliable services are what research has shown improves academic outcomes for foster youth in K-12. Those needs do not suddenly disappear once a student steps onto a college campus.
Research also links housing insecurity in college to lower retention, academic performance, and longer hours working outside of school. At HBCUs, 67 percent of students report experiencing food insecurity, housing insecurity, or homelessness; for foster youth on these campuses, who already face higher rates of homelessness, the compounding effect is profound. Colleges and universities that house students should prioritize year-round housing options for those with foster care experience.
Colleges and universities should also establish a designated foster liaison, a trained staff member to serve these students, helping them navigate financial aid, housing, mental health resources, and academic advising. This is not a new idea. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), local educational agencies and foster agencies across the country designate foster care education liaisons to support K-12 students in foster care to ensure school stability. Some higher education institutions, such as Western Michigan University’s Seita Scholars and California community colleges, already offer these services at the postsecondary level. In 2022, Livingstone College, an HBCU in North Carolina, launched the H.O.P.E. Emancipation Project, a holistic, year-round campus support program for youth in foster care that other HBCUs can adapt. Livingstone’s first H.O.P.E. scholar walked across the stage in 2025, and at longer-running programs like Seita Scholars at Western Michigan University that dates back to 2008, foster youth graduate at a rate of 42%, eight timeshigher than the national percent of graduation rate for foster youth.
Campuses should also offer more comprehensive mental health services and mentorship programing. While colleges and universities offer mental health services to faculty, staff, and students, those with foster care experience may need more intentional, ongoing supports attuned to their unique realities. For example, institutions could offer an optional first-year seminar for students entering college without traditional support systems, focused on navigating unwritten norms of academic life, from emailing professors to finding mentors and building relationships. For students whose families attended college, this knowledge is often passed down informally, but foster youth often must learn it on their own. Counseling centers should consider creating fast-track access or specialized programming for students with foster care experience, including trauma-informed workshops, support groups, or partnerships to ensure mental health support is available not only during moments of crisis, but embedded throughout the academic year.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it is a start. These approaches are important first steps to building an educational system that continues to provide the essentials foster youth need to survive. They will help ensure that we don’t stop applauding our foster youth after they walk across that high school stage, and that they are set up to succeed far beyond graduation season.