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waiver. According to the Kansas Deparment of Social Rehabilitation Services (2009), Statute 74-32,161:

1. Every Kansas educational institution shall be required to provide for the enrollment without charge of tuition, undergraduate fees, including registration, matriculation and laboratory fees for any eligible applicant.

2. No Kansas educational institution shall be required to provide for the enrollment of more than five new applicants in any academic year.

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3. An applicant who was in custody of social and rehabilitation services on the date such applicant reached 18 years of age, who has graduated from a high school or fulfilled the requirements for a general educational development (GED) certificate while in foster care;

4. was released from the custody of Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services prior to age 18 after having graduated from a high school or fulfilled the requirements for a GED certificate while in foster care placement and in the custody of the Kansas department of social and rehabilitation services; or

5. an applicant who was adopted from a foster care placement on or after such applicants’ 16th birthday, and who is accepted to a Kansas educational institution within two years following the date such applicant graduated from a high school or fulfilled the

requirements of a GED certificate shall be eligible for enrollment at a Kansas educational institution without charge of such fees through the semester the eligible applicant reaches 21 years of age, not to exceed eight semesters of undergraduate instruction, or the

equivalent thereof, at all such institutions (Kansas Deparment of Social Rehabilitation Services , 2009).

The waiver was a perceived strength, as this provided the children an avenue to pay for their schooling. The researcher posed the question to Kelly, “Do the educational benefits you receive after exiting foster care assist you in becoming a self-sufficient adult? If so, how do these benefits assist you right now and do you link these benefits as a tool to help you succeed?” Kelly commented, “Definitely a tool to succeed. Because without it, I probably wouldn’t be in school.” Kelly commented regarding the tuition waiver:

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I definitely think the benefits that I’m receiving are definitely making me successful and helping me accomplish what I want to get done. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to go to school. I could apply for scholarships, and I could probably make money, get money off of those, but it definitely wouldn’t help me as much as the tuition waiver.

Kelly stated that the tuition waiver helps her focus on school and not on how to pay for school. Kelly commented:

Because right now I’m getting subsidy to help me pay for my bills, and I have to tell them how much my bills are or whatever, I have to balance it out with all the funds I receive from financial aid. The gist of it is, if I didn’t receive those benefits, I wouldn’t be able to, plain and simple as it’s harder financially.

All participants unanimously stated that the tuition waiver was a relief. The researcher commented to Brit, “So if it wasn’t for those educational benefits from being in foster care, would you be here right now?” Brit commented, “I don’t think I would be coming to college without the benefits of being in foster care.” The researcher replied, “Where do you think you would be right now?” Brit commented, “I think I would be working at a minimum wage job, trying to make it through the month.” Brit also commented regarding the tuition waiver, “I think it’s a relief, because I don’t have to worry about a financial burden. I think I can finish college debt free, without having to take out loans. It’s a way for me to succeed in college, because I don’t have to worry about money as an educational aspect.”

Josh commented regarding the tuition waiver, “I guess the tuition waiver helped me out. I worked very little in high school. My biological mom couldn’t provide enough for me and my foster parents didn’t make much. They couldn’t provide for me, so the tuition waiver helped me

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out a lot.” The researcher asked, “Would you be here at college without the tuition waiver?” Josh commented:

I don’t think so. The housing and stuff, it’s just big housing and it’s hard to cover. And the tuition, the classes, just stuff to get started, it’s hard. You couldn’t come in. The finances are very nerve-racking. If you worry about finances, you have to worry about a job and stuff like that. A job would take you away from school and stuff. I feel very lucky I was able to get the tuition waiver.

Casey expressed a similar viewpoint during the interview. Casey commented, “I mean with the Kansas tuition waiver, and the school paying for everything, it has been a great help. Coming out of the system, being independent, and having my school paid for takes a big weight off.” Casey also commented:

Knowing that I’ll be graduating after four years in college with no debt, unlike some kids who are twenty or thirty thousand dollars in debt. They ask me how I pay for my degree, and I say the State of Kansas pays for me. What is that? I try to explain to my friends like what I went through growing up. I’m like, “If you were moved out of your parents’ house at a young age and you had no one to go to and then you’ve been offered by the state to go to college and you go to college for free, like who wouldn’t take that?” Like if you’re a foster kid and the state is paying for you to go to college and you don’t take it up, then you’re stupid.

The tuition waiver was a huge strength for all the participants in this study. The waiver provided an avenue for these participants to attend college and graduate with little or no debt. Affording these participants the opportunity to attend college was instrumental to these

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participants becoming successful. The tuition waiver is an extremely powerful tool for the Kansas foster care program.

Theme 7: Participants felt that they were not notified of the educational benefits until it