Western University to waive tuition fees for former foster kids
Institution joins others in Ontario to help students aging out of system
This academic year has been unusual and anxiety-inducing for all the reasons you might expect, but for Shianne Van Duzen, a fourth-year student at Laurentian University in Sudbury, there has been at least one less thing to worry about: money.
The 21-year-old zoology major is one of 10 students at Laurentian who have benefited from a new program for former foster kids aimed at ensuring a lack of money will not be an obstacle to their pursuit of post-secondary education. “It puts my mind at ease,” Van Duzen said. “It means students like me don’t have to worry.”
Van Duzen already receives some money through an Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) grant, but it doesn’t cover her full tuition or other education costs. Under the new program, Laurentian bridges the gap.
The program, which launched this summer at Laurentian, as well as Loyalist and Georgian colleges, is spearheaded by the Child Welfare Political Action Committee, which is hoping to expand it to all 45 of Ontario’s post-secondary schools.
“We want to ensure that finances are not a barrier to postsecondary studies for people who grew up in the care system,” said Jane Kovarikova, the committee’s founder and a former Crown ward herself.
This week, Western University and three of its affiliated university colleges in London, Ont. — King’s, Brescia and Huron — all signed on, committing to provide financial support for a combined 35 students who have experience in foster care. Kovarikova said she is currently in discussions with 10 other schools.
Around 800 to 1,000 young people “age out” of foster care each year in Ontario and only 44 per cent graduate high school, according to research by Kovarikova, who is also a PhD student at Western. From that minority of students who are eligible for post-secondary education, an even smaller minority — likely around 20 per cent, based on research from the U.S. — actually apply.
The Child Welfare PAC wants to see that number increase.
“We know what the outcomes are after care and they aren’t pretty,” Kovarikova said. “It includes things like criminal justice system involvement, poverty, homelessness or housing instability.”
For young people leaving the care system, Kovarikova said, education is the clearest path to improving their situation. “For me, it meant opportunity.”
A joint statement from the provincial ministries of colleges and universities, and children, community and social services, said they are working to “expand and increase access to education supports and employment projects” for current and former foster kids.