The Value of a College Degree for Foster Care Alumni: Comparisons with General Population Samples

Salazar, Amy M.

doi:10.1093/sw/swt014

Cited by 60 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Earning a bachelors degree is a significant accomplishment, and one that is particularly valued in the United States (Day, Dworsky, & Feng, 2013;Salazar, 2013). In 2015, approximately 33% of adults in the United States were found to have earned a bachelor's degree or higher (Ryan & Bauman, 2016).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The grip of trauma: How trauma disrupts the academic aspirations of foster youth

Morton

2018

Child Abuse & Neglect

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The academic challenges foster youth encounter during their P-12 education have been widely reported. Yet, despite these challenges, the majority of foster youth desire postsecondary education. What is less known is the reason why so few foster youth alumni who desire a four-year college degree, achieve this goal. For the participants in this four-year longitudinal study, maltreatment, resulting in foster care placement, and the ensuing exposure to the foster care system, resulted in trauma histories and mental health diagnoses. Anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were the most common diagnosis. The participants shared the ways in which these mental health challenges manifested throughout their college education. Of those in the study, almost half successfully graduated from college, a third dropped out, and only two remain enrolled. This study provides a unique and critical insight into the experiences of foster youth, enrolled in a four-year university, by sharing their stories.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The grip of trauma: How trauma disrupts the academic aspirations of foster youth

Morton

2018

Child Abuse & Neglect

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“…Three studies (Naccarato, Brophy, & Courtney, 2010;Okpych & Courtney, 2014;Salazar, 2013) had a specific focus on the relationship between college educational attainment and adult outcomes. Both Naccarato et al (2010) and Okpych and Courtney (2014) analyzed different waves of data from the Midwest Study, Wave 3 and Wave 5, respectively.…”

Section: Worth Of a College Degreementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A common outcome investigated was earnings. Researcher of one study (Salazar, 2013) examined a variety of outcomes such as health quality, home ownership, and financial satisfaction.…”

Section: Worth Of a College Degreementioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Research on College Educational Outcomes of Students Who Experienced Foster Care

Gillum

Lindsay

Murray

et al. 2016

Journal of Public Child Welfare

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“…Regardless of the emphasis in the U.S. for our youth to receive a college education, for many foster youth it is out of reach (Salazar, 2013). The academic career of children and Financial hurdles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barriers to Post-Secondary Enrollment for Former Foster Youth

Morton

2013

NWJTE

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Purpose of the studyThe purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of current and former foster youth who faced challenges with the process of enrolling in post-secondary education.These participants illuminated the importance of teacher preparation programs that include awareness of the contexts of foster children and youth. Unfortunately, little is known about this group, leaving them vulnerable to significant barriers. Many foster youth aspire to a four-year bachelors degree, but need the help and support of high school teachers to get there. Teacher educators have the unique opportunity to prepare future teachers to work with students from such varying backgrounds and experiences. Researcher PositioningAs a former high school English teacher with predominately upper classmen in my courses, I geared up each year for the onslaught of requests for letters of recommendations, Common Application reference forms, and editing and mentoring students through required essays. Wanting to give each student my absolute best required an organized plan to meet November 1 st university early action deadlines. As someone who completed her education through a non-traditional route, I always had a heart for those for whom early action deadlines just did not apply, no matter how much they wanted it. Two such students entered my classroom and my life and changed the way I viewed college applications, FreeApplication for Student Aid (FAFSA) and access to post-secondary education. These two students were in foster care, a population about which I knew nothing.The majority of people do not know much about foster care (Wolanin, 2005). This includes teachers. Although teacher education programs provide pre-service teachers with training and education about academic and behavioral problems, foster children constitute a specialized context about which little or nothing is taught. Thus, beginning teachers often have a gap in their preparation. Foster children and youth often experience academic and behavioral challenges. This, combined with teachers' lack of understanding of foster children's needs can make schooling especially problematic (Zetlin, MacLeod & Kimm, 2013).This paper provides information for teacher educators on the challenges foster youth face with applying for admission to post-secondary institutions, and ways teachers can support foster youth and help make their dream of pursuing a bachelor's degree a reality. In the next section I review research that emphasizes statistically the challenges foster youth face in their academic lives. This is followed by a discussion of key themes gleaned from my data collection with youth who experienced foster care.

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The Value of a College Degree for Foster Care Alumni: Comparisons with General Population Samples

Cited by 60 publications

References 12 publications

The grip of trauma: How trauma disrupts the academic aspirations of foster youth

The grip of trauma: How trauma disrupts the academic aspirations of foster youth

A Review of Research on College Educational Outcomes of Students Who Experienced Foster Care

Barriers to Post-Secondary Enrollment for Former Foster Youth

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