Just 5% of Texans with experience in foster care have a college degree.
That puts them behind most other subgroups in the state. That number, and the reasons behind it, come from a new landscape report by the nonprofit Education Reach for Texans and funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Sheila Bustillos, a co-founder of the nonprofit and a co-author of the report, sat down with the Texas Standard to discuss its findings and what it could mean for Texans with experience in foster care.
This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity:
Texas Standard: It’s important to start out by saying that the low rate of achievement isn’t because of a lack of ambition from students who’ve experienced foster care. Can you talk about the disconnect between their higher educational goals and achievement?
Sheila Bustillos: Many of them want to go to college. That’s not the problem. What we find is that even with a tuition waiver in the state of Texas and state-mandated foster care liaisons, their outcomes still remain poor.
We often have access issues. Students with experience in foster care have very low graduation rates from high school. I think many of them have trouble gaining access into higher ed. We have several students that really aren’t math or reading ready.
But most of our students are entering at two-year institutions. So, they’re coming into a two-year experience and for some reason — that we’re trying to dig into further with other research — but they’re just not staying there at as high a rate as they’re staying at four-year public institutions.
Let’s break some of this down a little bit. You mentioned there are some state policies and programs in place to help Texans who’ve experienced foster care seek higher ed. One was this foster care tuition waiver, which eliminates tuition and fees for some eligible folks. So, why aren’t more people using that?
We know that, of students who are enrolled and eligible for the waiver, 40% are currently not using it. We are very confused by that, because they have free education and they’re not accessing it.
So, a couple of things are the issue. The waiver is not automated. So, from the Department of Family Protective Services, we don’t have a list of students who are eligible for the waiver.
Students have to contact their caseworker, get a letter saying they were a ward of the state. They have to take it to the institution, usually to the [bursar’s] office, hand it to them, and then they process their waiver.
It’s a difficult process. It’s hard for some of them to navigate, and many of them, we’ve heard from people with experience in foster care, just give up. So, what we want is it to be automated from the state.
Another issues is that you might not know you have free college. They could have entered the military and they’re using a different kind of waiver. But what we do know is that there’s a problem here that we need to solve.
Then there are other financial burdens that students face. You also flagged this: housing and other basic needs that they’re struggling with.
Our students don’t really have what we call “family privilege.” I’ve seen a student that needed dental work and it has put them behind on their bills.
One trip to the doctor can cause a domino effect on their budget that might not be resolved by calling their parents, right? Or checking in with a family member or asking or even borrowing money and getting a co-signer. I mean, none of those options are available to them.
So, we are underestimating their need in higher ed. They have more benefits than they’re able to accept due to calculation issues. So, to not be complicated, really, it’s like, let’s say you had five scholarships, but you could only accept one because your cost of attendance was maxed out. So, they are leaving money on the table when they attend higher ed, and that’s a problem.
You also mentioned early on this idea of college liaisons. The idea here is that the state has thought about this. It can be hard to be the first one in your family who is going into higher ed. But these liaisons aren’t really connecting with students? What are the gaps here?
All of our students have been in foster care. They are protected by the state. When they turn 18, the same should be true to them. Yet, a lot of these supports that we have are unfunded for them, and there’s a lot of fundraising efforts, a lot of amazing community work, but the liaisons are struggling.
What we have found with our research is that we learned that 88% want to be the liaison. They’re really excited about their role, but only 4% of them got their job duties reduced to free up space for the new role. It’s a side gig on top of their regular job.
And liaisons also want more training and support to understand how to identify and connect with students.
It shouldn’t be surprising that our research revealed that the liaison legislation has not resulted in improvements to retain students. But what we did find in these four-year institutions is that with a robust campus support program, they have 40% higher retention rates than campuses without these supports.
I imagine with this report, you guys are putting together policy recommendations as we approach another Texas legislative session. Do you feel like you have lawmaker support to move forward with some of these ideas?
Absolutely, I mean, the state has been a huge support for us. And so really what we’re looking to do is expand the waiver and have it automated and to have legislative support for that.
Also, mandate that cost of attendance be increased for all students with experience in foster care at all public institutions. And then to help us fund campus liaisons.
