Each year NASFAA updates the FAFSA Tips for Foster Youth Worksheet, a guide for financial aid administrators in helping foster youth complete the FAFSA. The guide addresses difficulties that youth in foster care and wards of the court may experience when filling out the FAFSA.

The guide is now available on the NASFAA Web site for Parents and Students. The document can be downloaded and customized with a school’s name and logo. The tagline acknowledging NASFAA as the source should not be removed.

The guide can be provided to students in foster care who attend college fairs, financial aid presentations, or who are on college campus visits. The guide can also be provided to high school guidance counselors and state family caseworkers who are responsible for overseeing the needs of youth in foster care.

"High school guidance counselors and college access programs like to have a connection with their local colleges," says NASFAA Director of College Access Programs Marcia Weston. "The ability for them to customize this guide provides that much needed connection and will hopefully lead to further cooperation to meet these students’ unique needs."

NASFAA developed the guide after investigating the barriers that youth in foster care face as they try to access financial aid resources. Because of their unusual living and legal circumstances, many youth from foster care find the language used on the FAFSA confusing. That confusion leads youth from foster care to either give incomplete information, incorrect information, or it may deter them from completing the FAFSA altogether.

NASFAA continues to work with organizations such as Casey Family Programs in addressing the issues and barriers that foster youth face in their pursuit of higher education attainment.

For questions on accessing the tip sheet or for more information on foster youth initiatives at NASFAA, please contact Tim Christensen, vice president of planning and development at christensent@nasfaa.org or Marcia Weston, director of college access programs at westonm@nasfaa.org.

Posted 01/02/08 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web Site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.