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\nArticle reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2025. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nSecondary and Postsecondary Education Outcomes of Students with Experience in Foster Care: Systematic Review of the Literature From 2000–2023  \nNathanael J. Okpych  \nUniversity of Connecticut  \nKenyon Whitman  \nUniversity of Nevada  \nJane Lee  \nUniversity of Connecticut  \nLiz Neria-Piña  \nOklahoma State University  \nLisa A. Jackson  \nFlorida State University  \nMaddy Day  \nMaddy Day LLC and Associates  \nStudents who experience foster care (SEFC) remain some of the most educationally marginalized youth in the United States. However, rates of secondary and postsecondary outcomes vary widely across studies, limiting the ability to inform policy. At present, there is no definitive publication that reports secondary and postsecondary education rates based on best available evidence. The goal of this study is to fill this gap by reviewing methodologically sound studies with SEFC. We conducted a systematic review of publications between 2000 and 2023. A total of 17 publications met our six inclusion criteria. Most findings came from regional rather than national studies. The high school/General Educational Development (GED) completion rate ranged from 69% to 85%, the postsecondary enrollment rate ranged from 29% to 64%, and the postsecondary degree completion rate ranged from 8% to 12%. Only three publications reported differences by race, which is an area in need of attention in future studies.  \nKeywords: at-risk students, disparities, higher education, postsecondary education, descriptive analysis, secondary data analysis, survey research, systematic review, foster care, aging-out of foster care, high school completion, postsecondary enrollment, postsecondary completion, racial disparities  \nIntroduction  \nStudents who experience foster care (SEFC) remain some of the most educationally marginalized youth in the United States. In the current study, SEFC include young people in foster care on or after their 13th birthday, which is the age limit set forth in the Free Application for Federal Student  \nAid (FAFSA) that allows students to file as an independent student when determining their financial aid needs. Three commonly reported statistics are that less than half of SEFC graduate from high school, about 20% enroll in college, and just 3% earn a college degree (Pecora et al., 2005; Wolanin, 2005) . These statistics can be found on the websites of government agencies, college programs, and community-based  \nCreative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons  \nAttribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use,  \nreproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)).  \nOkpych et al.  \norganizations, as well as in many peer-reviewed articles. A problem is that these statistics come from regional studies that are more than 2 decades old and that have formidable methodological limitations (discussed below) . Moreover, both studies include SEFC from a bygone era of child welfare policy. Since the late 1990s, several foundational policy changes have occurred, including the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, a 2008 federal law that allowed states to raise the foster care age limit from 18 to 21. Moreover, an increasing number of states offer college tuition and fee waivers to SEFC. These and other policy","cbCaivUrrhgqaDo3","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivUrrhgqaDo3","pdf",762125,23,"English","# Introduction\n# Methods and Inclusion Criteria\n# Findings: Educational Outcome Ranges\n# Equity Gaps and Future Research Needs","[{\"question\":\"What gap does the study address?\",\"answer\":\"The review targets the absence of a definitive publication reporting secondary and postsecondary education rates for SEFC using the best available evidence.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the evidence gathered and filtered?\",\"answer\":\"The authors conducted a systematic review of publications from 2000 to 2023 and applied six inclusion criteria, resulting in 17 eligible studies.\"},{\"question\":\"What outcome ranges does the review report?\",\"answer\":\"The study reports high school/GED completion from 69% to 85%, postsecondary enrollment from 29% to 64%, and postsecondary degree completion from 8% to 12%.\"}]","Secondary and Postsecondary Education Outcomes of Students with Experience in Foster Care - Systematic Review of the Literature From 2000–2023 | PDF",1792069415,58]