Students who used to live or are still living in a foster home obviously do not have enough resources to pay for college. Since college is a challenging phase made even more burdensome by various financial requirements, foster children would certainly need sponsors to get them through it. Luckily, there are numerous civil organizations and other local groups that are ready to help.

What are the Requirements?

Those who are presently living in a foster home or previously lived in one are qualified for scholarship grants. It does not matter whether you are from a public foster care or a private one; the only requirement is that you stayed in an American foster home for at least a year. More often than not, financial aid is given to singles who are below 25 years old. Most scholarship programs also require that an applicant possesses a GPA not lower than 2.0.

What are the Available Scholarship Programs?

These days, with so many various groups and organizations eager to lend a helping hand in financing a college education, finding a scholarship program that you can qualify for is no longer a difficult task. Several states have their own scholarship programs for foster children such as Massachusetts' Foster Child Tuition Waiver Program, Arizona's Friends of Foster Children Foundation, and Washington's Governor Scholarship. Apart from state-specific scholarship programs, there are also those that were founded by different companies and institutions. Capitol One, a leading name in bank holding, is the company behind Fostering a Future, a national scholarship program that helps send foster kids to school.

Capitol One’s Fostering a Future

Capitol One, a Fortune 500 Company involved with credit cards, banking, auto loans, and home loans, partnered with the National Foster Care Fund in 2004 to establish Fostering a Future. The scholarship program and its founders believe that empowering an individual through education is the best way to prepare him for a brighter future. Likewise, it aims to help foster children have clear visions of their future through an opportunity to study in the colleges or universities of their choice. The great thing about this scholarship program is that the recipients are allowed to choose the course they want to take up in college. In recent years, this program has collaborated with top organizations such as the National Foster Care Coalition and the Child Welfare League of America to provide only the best for foster children.

State-Sponsored Scholarships

As mentioned, there are several states who have established scholarship programs for foster care children. Three of these states are Massachusetts, Arizona, and Washington which formed the Foster Child Tuition Waiver Program, the Friends of Foster Children Foundation, and the Governor's Scholarship, respectively.

The Foster Child Tuition Waiver Program of Massachusetts is for foster children who wish to study in state universities and colleges. The qualified students will receive free tuition to any of Massachusetts' 29 academic institutions. Apart from the usual requirements, applicants must also agree to share their educational expenses through a work-and-study system.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation, is one of the few long-standing organizations that help foster children get college degrees. This particular organization has been in service for over twenty years already, having been established back in 1980. This organization welcomes all applicants who reside in Arizona. To apply, you must already be enrolled under a degree program in a college or university of your choice. The thing with this organization is that they accept applicants on a first come, first serve basis only, so those who wish to be candidates for the scholarship grant should apply as early as possible. Moreover, there are only a few slots available, so competition is very tough.

Another state-specific scholarship program is the Governor's Scholarship of Washington. Founded in 2001, this program aims to help foster children get a good college education with any academic institution in the state. The amount of the scholarship grants vary depending on a number of factors such as tuition cost and financial need. Generally, though, scholarship grants range from $1,000 to $5,000.

How to Look for Scholarship Grants

Massachusetts, Arizona, and Washington are not the only states who offer scholarship programs for foster children. Almost every state has its own foster care scholarship program, so you're guaranteed to find one wherever part of the country you live. If you don't know of any, however, you can inquire at your local government office to find out about available scholarships in your state. The Internet is also a good source of information regarding various state-specific scholarships, so you might want to search it as well.