In this opinion piece for the Guardian, David Kirp describes an initiative at Western Michigan University (WMU) in the United States to support foster youth in completing their university degrees. "When it comes to getting a decent education, no group gets shortchanged more than foster kids," says Kirp. "Only half of them graduate from high school, compared to 85% of their classmates. While almost all of them say they want to go to college, only about 20% – less than a third of their peers – get there. Most depressingly, estimates of the number of foster youth who start college and earn a bachelor’s degree range from 11% to 1% (you read that figure right)."
WMU has managed to get the percentage of foster youth who earn a degree up to 44% through a financial aid program that also includes a designated coach to support foster youth throughout their time in school. "What matters most is the fact that they have someone they can turn to, for personal as well as academic help. Their coach – adviser, tutor and life coach – becomes the parent that many of them never had." Kirp calls on other universities to use similar approaches to support youth and remove barriers to student access not only for foster youth.