The Lived Experience of Foster Youth as Community-College Student

The purpose of this study was to determine what life is like for foster youth pursuing postsecondary education. At a time when few foster youth are pursuing and completing higher education, this study attempted to gain an understanding from foster youth about 1) the reason(s) for their success in pursuing postsecondary education, 2) how they were able to become college-bound high school students and access postsecondary education, 3) the networking strategies they used to acquire the social capital necessary to pursue postsecondary education, and 4) what their experiences had been in regard to their colleges' support of their pursuits of postsecondary education. A qualitative-phenomenological research design was employed. In-depth interviewing involving a series of three interviews with each of eight foster youth currently attending community college was the data-collection method. Data sources included the digital recordings and transcripts of the participants' verbal responses to open-ended questions and the researcher's notes and written reflections. Data analysis was based on a Reductionist Approach including epoche, bracketing, and coding toward the development of emergent themes. Themes confirmed and informed through NVivo included school, math issues, foster-care system's role in higher education, career choice, college, future, and foster-youth advice. Findings included that the foster-care system and the Independent Living Program (ILP) can provide the social capital children usually receive from their parents to pursue postsecondary education. Once foster youth were 18 years old, or in their senior year of high school, ILP caseworkers assisted them in accessing higher education. The challenge is to provide support and information to all foster children by middle school. Foster children need to be part of college-going cultures; they need pre-college experiences such as visiting colleges and universities in order to have the information and confidence they need to reach their educational goals. Foster children need to know they are not limited in their aspirations and that they will have the necessary funding to complete higher education. This is a social-justice issue, and foster children need to be prepared so that upon high school graduation, college can just be the next step.