Climbing a Broken Ladder

Contributors of College Success for Youth in Foster Care

Nathanael J. Okpych

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781978809161
  9781978809178
• eBook ISBN:
  9781978809185
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Part I: Background
• Part II: Findings
• Part III: Recommendations
• 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 Predictors
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• References
• Index
• About the Author