Flattening the College Curve: Lessons Learned from Foster Care to Improve Postsecondary Participation for All Youth. Report No. 107A

Three out of four jobs now require education or training beyond high school, yet some students face formidable barriers to attending college. Disruptions to K-12 education, trauma, loss, food insecurity, and housing instability are known impediments to the educational success of youth who have been in foster care. These types of challenges may well be felt by more youth in the general population as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Youth formerly in foster care can be a magnifier for the challenges higher education now faces even more broadly. If we can "flatten the college curve" for youth in foster care, we can apply similar strategies and policies to solve postsecondary access and persistence challenges for many of our most vulnerable students and intentionally broaden the focus on equitable access to postsecondary education to groups of students with unique and complex life circumstances. This report offers in-depth information on postsecondary matriculation and persistence rates for students formerly in foster care as a means to inform and improve policies and practices for the benefit of all youth.