Analysis: Mississippi considers college aid for foster youth

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Most states already offer scholarships or tuition waivers for young people who have spent time in the foster care system.

Mississippi could join that list this year.

The state House last week passed House Bill 1313, to create the Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) Scholarship Program. It would provide tuition waivers at community colleges or universities for people who have spent all or part of their teenage years in foster care.

The program would be for ages 14 to 26, for people pursuing job certification or undergraduate degrees. It would be open to people in the foster system at the time they apply, and to those who spent part of their teen years in foster care but were adopted or reunited with their birth families.

The program would include services to guide students as they apply for college.

The bill — which moves to the Senate for more work — says the program initially would cover costs for up to 150 people and eventually would be expanded to cover up to 900.

Sean Milner is executive director of The Baptist Children's Village, which has seven residential campuses in Mississippi for children, teenagers and young adults up to age 20. Milner also spent 18 years growing up in custody of the organization.

He said young people in foster care are constantly thinking about their own future, but college is often not calculated as a possibility because they know they can't afford it. The proposed tuition waiver and mentoring services could change that outlook, Milner said.

“Really and truly, what this does is create a bright future for kids who are in a really tough place right now,” Milner said. "Now, they’ll be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel: ‘I’m going somewhere. I can go to college. It will be provided for me, and...