WE DEFINE THE FUTURE: LIVED EXPERIENCES OF FOSTER YOUTH IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE ROLE OF THE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM

Foster youth face significant barriers to higher education, including housing instability, financial insecurity, trauma, and limited adult support, contributing to low college completion rates, with only 3 to 11 percent earning a bachelor’s degree (Morton, 2018; Moyer & Goldberg, 2019). The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), established in 1969 within the California State University system, was designed to reduce these barriers through counseling, mentoring, financial assistance, and basic needs support. However, limited research has centered the voices of foster youth to understand their experiences with these services. Guided by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Resilience Theory, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of foster youth enrolled in EOP at a four-year university in Southern California (Maslow, 1954; Masten, 2014). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants, including students and alumni, and analyzed using inductive thematic coding. Findings revealed three themes: basic needs support, academic and social support, and navigating college systems. Participants emphasized that housing stability and financial assistance supported academic focus, while relationships with counselors and peers fostered belonging and persistence (Tobolowsky et al., 2019). This study highlights the importance of holistic, trauma-informed support to improve outcomes for foster youth.