{"id":233852,"date":"2025-08-15T08:53:05","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T12:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=233852"},"modified":"2025-08-25T11:47:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T15:47:15","slug":"hilton-foundation-supports-okpychs-study-on-college-outcomes-for-former-foster-care-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/08\/hilton-foundation-supports-okpychs-study-on-college-outcomes-for-former-foster-care-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Hilton Foundation Supports Okpych’s Study on College Outcomes for Former Foster Care Youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Nathanael Okpych<\/a> first began studying the educational journeys of young people who grew up in foster care, one statistic stood out: fewer than 1 in 10 complete a college degree.<\/p>\n

One of his recent studies <\/a>found that in California, as many as four out of five of those who enroll in college start their path at a community college. \u201cThis was an eye-opener,\u201d says Okpych, associate professor in UConn\u2019s School of Social Work. \u201cUp to this point, most of the studies on students with foster care backgrounds focused on four-year colleges, not two-year colleges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, with a new research grant from the\u00a0Transition-Age Youth Research & Evaluation Hub<\/a> (TAY-Hub)\u00a0at the University of California, Berkeley\u2014funded by the\u00a0Conrad N. Hilton Foundation<\/a>\u2014Okpych and co-principal investigator Mayra Cazares-Minero of the University of California, Los Angeles will lead a two-year study to uncover what makes some community colleges especially successful in helping these students persist and graduate.<\/p>\n

Titled \u201cBetter Than Expected: Unpacking the Student and College Characteristics Behind Successful Outcomes for Youth with Foster Care Experience in Community Colleges,\u201d the project will examine both the human stories and the institutional factors behind student success. The total project budget is\u00a0$39,793, with $20,920 going to UConn.<\/p>\n

These are students who\u2019ve often faced incredible challenges before setting foot on a college campus. If we can pinpoint the supports and conditions that help them not just stay in school, but succeed, that\u2019s knowledge we can share. \u2014 Nathanael Okpych<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cSince youth who have been in foster care often navigate college without the guidance of caregivers to help with admissions and financial aid, many also face housing instability, limited financial resources, and other challenges that can derail academic progress,\u201d Okpych explains. \u201cIf we want to understand\u2014and improve\u2014their chances of finishing college, we have to start there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okpych will focus his study on NextUp, a statewide program that delivers essential academic, financial, and social support to more than\u00a04,000 students with foster care experience\u00a0across California\u2019s\u00a0116 community colleges.<\/p>\n

Early reports suggest that students in NextUp often outperform their peers, but Okpych notes there\u2019s an important question left unanswered: \u201cWe\u2019ve never had the chance to dig deep enough to know if those differences are because of the program, or because the students who join it are different in ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study will run from\u00a0July 2025 to March 2027\u00a0in three phases:<\/p>\n

1. Checking the data \u2013 Comparing state administrative records with on-campus rosters to ensure the accuracy of NextUp participation data.<\/p>\n

2. Crunching the numbers \u2013 Using linked education and child welfare data to examine how student characteristics, college environments, and NextUp participation affect both short-term (first-year GPA, persistence) and long-term (four-year GPA, degree completion) outcomes.<\/p>\n

3. Learning from success \u2013 Identifying colleges whose students with foster care backgrounds perform better than expected, then interviewing staff to capture effective strategies that could be replicated elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Okpych\u2019s study coincides with his own research interests in the outcomes of youth with experience in foster care; child welfare policies and practices that support postsecondary education; and quantitative methods. His professional experience includes providing mental health services to youth in residential, school, and community settings, as well as working for several years in college residence life.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Okpych is widely published on foster youth transitions and higher education<\/a>, including the 2021 book\u00a0Climbing a Broken Ladder<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and a 2025 systematic review<\/a> of college outcomes for youth with foster care experience.<\/p>\n

For him, the project is both an analytical challenge and a deeply human mission. Findings will be shared with policymakers, educators, and child welfare leaders, with the goal of strengthening the bridge from college access to college completion for foster youth\u2014nationwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are students who\u2019ve often faced incredible challenges before setting foot on a college campus,\u201d he says. \u201cIf we can pinpoint the supports and conditions that help them not just stay in school, but succeed, that\u2019s knowledge we can share far beyond California.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about Okpych’s work in this September 2024 UConn Today<\/em> article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Associate Professor Nathanael Okpych will examine both the human stories and the institutional factors behind student success<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":233854,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076,1870],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2514],"class_list":["post-233852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","category-ssw"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 07:39:04","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233852"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233859,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233852\/revisions\/233859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/233854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233852"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=233852"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=233852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}