Affording College

We often hear that potential adoptive parents, especially those already fostering children, are reluctant to adopt fearing college costs. The thought is that there is more support available if the child is never formally adopted than if he or she is.

If this concern is holding you back from creating a permanent relationship with a child, please read on. First there is The Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act, which states that when a child age 13 or above is adopted from foster care, the adoptive parents' income does not have to be factored into any federal financial aid application. This means the student will be considered independent and only his or her income (if any) will be considered when figuring out financial aid. For more information go to this Voice For Adoption Factsheet.

Next there are also many scholarships available from both state and private programs. For a very complete listing click here for the Child Information Gateway's College Scholarship and Tuition Waivers page. An additional resource is here: CollegeScholarships.org

Read more about the Education Training Voucher (ETV) program here. ETV awards grants to current and former foster youth to help pay for college or specialized education. In most states, eligible students may receive grants of up to $5,000 per academic year.

And also, another great resource is to be found here, the Orphan Foundation of America. (This is for children from foster care, not the strict definition of orphans, i.e. biological parents may still be living.)

Hopefully this information will help you make the choice to adopt easier for your family!

College Costs

Teens in foster care no longer have to choose between being adopted and receiving financial aid to attend college. Under a new law, The Fostering Adoption to Further Student Achievement Act (FAFSA), youth adopted from foster care after their 13th birthday will not have to include their parent’s income in determining their need for financial aid.

The FAFSA provision, which takes effect this month (July 2009), allows teens to seek financial aid for the 2009-2010 school year. Youth adopted before the new law are also eligible.

FAFSA is good news not only for youth but for families wanting to adopt them. Until now, many families fostering teens hesitated to adopt them if it meant denying them a college education.

According to statistics reported for the fiscal year ending 2006, the latest year these figures were available, 510,000 children of all ages were in foster care. Of these, 129,000 were waiting to be adopted and about a quarter of them were 13 and older. Only 11% of teens 13 and older were adopted.

Statistics have consistently shown that youth who are adopted out of the foster care system are more likely to attend college and have stable and productive lives. With this new law, the hope is that more teenagers will be adopted and that their dreams will include both a college education and a loving home.