Former foster youth in Georgia have a new source of financial support to help pay for their college education.
The Georgia Foster Care Scholarship has begun accepting its first round of applications. The scholarships, offering a maximum of $30,000 per year, will be awarded as early as the coming fall semester.
Eligible students have spent at least six months in foster care after their 14th birthday. They must also be under age 26 and enrolled in an undergraduate program in the state’s public university or technical college systems. Some private institutions qualify as well.
Students can use the scholarship funds to cover a variety of college expenses, including tuition, room and board, meal plans and books.
Lance Wallace, a spokesperson for the Georgia Student Finance Commission, said more than 170 youth have already applied.
“There is obviously great demand and interest in this scholarship, which is one of the most generous state scholarships available,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be able to have this opportunity. There’s no question this is a worthy population to serve in financial aid.”
Allison Ashe, president of Wellroot Family Services — which offers housing and other support for aging-out youth — said young people leaving foster care often have to start from scratch without any family support, so even basic expenses can derail their education.
“A large number of foster kids who do start college end up dropping out after the first year, so we want to see that retention rate go up,” Ashe said. “Getting an education is such an important thing for young people in the foster care system, and the scholarship will help them achieve that.”
The scholarship funds were approved by the Legislature last year in Senate Bill 85 and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp. The state has allocated $2.5 million in the current budget.
College students with foster care experience also receive financial assistance through Georgia’s Fostering Success tax credit, a voluntary program offered to residents who can direct a portion of their state income taxes to aging-out foster youth.
A 2021 bill waived tuition and mandatory room and board fees for certain foster and adopted youth enrolled in state institutions. But Wallace said the new scholarship goes further, helping students cover the remaining cost of attendance after other financial aid, including tuition waivers, has been applied.
The new scholarships are awarded on a first‑come, first‑served basis until the $2.5 million is exhausted. It’s a two-step process: They first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to establish financial need and then submit the Foster Care Scholarship Application online.
Lance said the application is designed to be simple because it’s well known that foster youth can lack meaningful support during college and financial aid application processes.
Former foster youth Regginald Holloway spoke on these challenges as he urged lawmakers to fund the scholarship during a state Senate committee meeting last fall. While studying digital media at the University of West Georgia, he said financial and family issues forced him at times to withdraw from classes and school meal plans. He said he worked two jobs and still lacked stable housing.
During that meeting, Deven Rudy-Johnson, youth engagement coordinator at the foster care-focused nonprofit Multi-Agency Alliance for Children, said only about 5% percent of transition-age foster youth complete a post-secondary credential in Georgia.
“These young people don’t want handouts,” Rudy-Johnson said. “They need a hand up to achieve their dreams while not having to work three jobs or being strapped down to an enormous amount of crippling debt. We’ll allow them to be even better contributors to our workforce.”
