“Don’t Give Up”: Persevering for a better life through community college among students with foster care experience

Abstract

Community college is the predominant pathway foster youth take to postsecondary education, but little is known about young people’s experiences. To address this gap, 24 community college students in or formerly in foster care in Illinois were interviewed by phone using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. An inductive analytical approach searched for themes in the data and identified thematic groupings. The findings suggest that (1) high school was a struggle, which prompted young people to look forward and not back; (2) transitions to community college were motivated by funds for college and a desire to have a stable adult life; and (3) strategies for success in college focused on perseverance. The discussion offers recommendations for child welfare systems and educational institutions to cultivate stronger bridges across institutions aimed at alleviating the burdens faced by foster youth in their pursuit of successful lives after foster care.