Advocates push 'Fostering Futures' tuition-waiver bill to help former foster youth attend college

Dr. Amanda Moon, a founder of the nonprofit SC First and a University of South Carolina College of Education professor, told the joint legislative committee that the Fostering Futures Act would require public colleges in South Carolina to waive tuition and fees for certain current and former foster youth.

"Many kids in South Carolina foster care dream of going to college and the easier we make it for them to do so, the stronger and more prosperous our state will be," Dr. Moon said, describing the group’s role in researching and advocating for policies that support foster youth.

The presenters described four core bill elements: a core mandate to waive tuition and fees, eligibility definitions, duration and coverage of the waiver, and institutional requirements. Dr. Kristen See (presented in the meeting as "Dr. C") summarized national outcomes used to justify the proposal, saying South Carolina currently does not offer a college tuition waiver for former foster youth and that the lack of one carries long-term public costs. "The average lifetime cost of social services for a former foster youth without a college degree is $200,000 to $343,000 per youth," she said, and noted that college completion lowers the lifetime cost of social services by 60%–80%.

Under the bill as described, South Carolina’s 33 public institutions of higher education would be required to waive tuition and fees for eligible students, covering vocational certificates, associate degrees and up to one bachelor’s degree. Presenters emphasized the waiver would be tuition/fee-only; housing, meals and other living costs would not be waived by the institutions under the proposal.

Eligibility would include youth under 26 who were in South Carolina foster care and who meet one of four categories: aged out of care, currently in extended foster care, adopted after age 12, or in foster care for three or more cumulative years. When asked about the three-year threshold, presenters said they chose a conservative model used by other states and offered to provide comparative numbers for alternative thresholds.

Presenters described how the waiver would work with existing aid: Pell Grants, state needs-based grants, Chafee ETV funds and other sources could be stacked with the tuition waiver. Dr. Moon said institutions would designate a liaison to help students navigate admissions and financial aid and that the bill would allow institutions to ask for proof of eligibility only once to reduce administrative burden.

On enrollment projections, presenters said they used AFCARS and DSS dashboard data to estimate approximately 192 eligible students per annual cohort and projected a combined 150–261 students could be receiving the waiver across stacked cohorts once the policy was implemented. Presenters also noted that, outside the foster-specific population, about 17,000 students across the state already receive institutional tuition waivers for other populations under existing law.

Committee members raised practical concerns. Dr. Ed Simmer, director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health, said he worried about student-loan outcomes for students who enroll but do not graduate, noting that "one out of every four student loans is delinquent right now." Presenters responded that the institutional liaison and training would discourage unnecessary borrowing and that the goal was to reduce the financial barriers that drive foster youth to drop out.

Supporters urged that the waiver would not guarantee admission or academic success but would remove a major financial barrier for students who are admitted and choose to enroll. Presenters offered to supply additional comparative data on eligibility thresholds and the projected fiscal impact.

Next steps identified in the committee included follow-up requests for breakdowns of how many youth would qualify under alternative eligibility definitions and further fiscal analysis if the committee opts to advance the bill.