Although foster youth have college aspirations similar to their peers, fewer than one in ten ultimately complete a two-year or four-year college degree. What are the major factors that influence their chances of succeeding? Climbing a Broken Ladder advances our knowledge of what can be done to improve college outcomes for a student group that has largely remained invisible in higher education. Drawing on data from one of the most extensive studies of young people in foster care, Nathanael J. Okpych examines a wide range of factors that contribute to the chances that foster youth enroll in college, persist in college, and ultimately complete a degree. Okpych also investigates how early trauma affects later college outcomes, as well as the impact of a significant child welfare policy that extends the age limit of foster care. The book concludes with data-driven and concrete recommendations for policy and practice to get more foster youth into and through college.
Part I: Background
Introduction
1. Framework for the Book
2. Description of the Midwest Study
Part II: Findings
3. Exploring College Outcomes
4. College Enrollment Patterns
5. Predictors of College Enrollment
6. Predictors of College Persistence
7. Predictors of Degree Completion
8. Role of Avoidant Attachment on Persistence and Degree Completion
9. Impact of Extended Foster Care on College Outcomes
Part III: Recommendations
10. Policy and Practice Steps to Increase College Enrollment and Completion
Appendix A: Statistics in Plain Language
Appendix B: Making Sense of Odds Ratios
Appendix C: What is Multivariable Regression and Why Do We Need It?
Appendix D: Description of Study Covariates
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index