Exploring the self-efficacy of foster youth participating in a pre-college summer program

Abstract

Although foster youth desire to attend college, many experience barriers to enrollment. Pre-college programs have been shown to improve college access for underrepresented students. Little is known about the impact of pre-college programs designed for foster youth. Researchers have found that youth who participate in experiential programs have an increased sense of self-efficacy. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to lift the voices of youth who participated in a six-week pre-college program called the National Social Work Enrichment Program (NSEP). Thematic analysis was employed to explore the experiences of youth. This manuscript focuses on a subset of data from the larger qualitative study.