Like a long summer road trip, the process of systems-change can seem interminable!
Here at John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY), helping foster youth enroll and succeed in college is one of our main systems-change goals. We’ve been working towards that goal for a long time, advocating for college preparation, financial aid access and hands-on assistance on college campuses. Yet, day to day it can be hard to know if we are moving the needle.
Thanks to data from the Cal PASS Plus system, we know that California is moving the right direction. Between the 2014-15 and 2019-20 academic years, foster youth made the following gains:
- More foster youth in college: The number of foster youth enrolled in a community college increased from 26,632 to 42,167.
- More degrees and certificates: The number of foster youth who completed a degree or certificate increased from 996 to 2,449. The number who transferred to a 4-year institution doubled from 962 to 1,960.
- Better grades: The average GPA for foster youth increased from 2.01 to 2.32. In addition, the GPA gap between foster youth and their non-foster youth peers decreased from a .57 to a .37 difference.
- More courses successfully completed: The percentage of courses successfully completed by foster youth increased from 56% to 66%. In addition, the gap between foster youth and their non-foster youth peers decreased from a 14 point to a 10-point difference.
- More transfer-level courses: The percent of foster youth completing transfer-level math increased from 4% to 12% and the percent completing transfer-level English increased from 9% to 26%.
Together, this data says it all: we are making progress towards the goal of helping foster youth enroll and succeed in college in California!
While we are happy with this progress, there is much more work ahead. We know many barriers to higher education remain, including financial aid policies that restrict access to funding for foster youth and inadequate funding for on-campus support.
With your support, JBAY will continue to remove these barriers and work towards a world where foster youth succeed in college at the same rates as their non-foster youth peers. The end of the road is in sight!