adopted children and college financial aid?

[Sunshine State Sue]

I work with a lady who adopted a child at birth from a friend of hers.  Her dd is a bright and motivated 7th grader.  I told her I'd ask here about adoption and college financial aid.  Anybody have any information to share?

My sister adopted 2 children from Korea.  As I understand it, when she went to a local college with her dd, the financial aid officer offered her a grant or scholarship because her dd was adopted.  I think that the fao might have stretched a bit because she asked if dd had ever been in a ward of the state and the answer was maybe for a day. 

I know a lady from choir who adopted 2 boys from foster care.  Their college will be paid for by the state.

It's probably a long shot, but I thought I'd ask the Hive if they have any information.

Thanks!

 

[SKL]

As far as I know, with few exceptions, your children are treated the same whether you adopted or gave birth to them.  There might be some special scholarships based on race and ethnicity, and most of the adoptive moms I hear from assume that relates to the child's race or self-declared ethnicity (for example, their kids from Latin America may claim to be Hispanic although they have not been brought up in the Hispanic culture).

I assume that adoption from foster care would come with its own rules and differ from state to state.

I have never personally heard of a scholarship specific to adoptee status, though I have never looked either.

[Janeway]

Kids from foster care are supposed to get extra financial aid. BUT, kids adopted in private adoptions are not supposed to. "Wards of the state" references kids who were in US foster care, not international foster care where the child was privately adopted. When a child was adopted as an infant, the child is seen the same as any biological child. IF the child is disabled, there might be extra aid based on disability, but not based on adoption. 

 

Also, while I have no experience with this, I have been told in some states, even kids from foster care are not receiving the extra aid if they were adopted at too young an age. But, I would not know and I would assume that would be a state by state thing. 

Edited October 17, 2018 by Janeway

[SKL]

I just did a quick search, and it turns out there are a number of scholarships, mostly small, and mostly for kids adopted out of foster care at an older age.  They tend to be specific to residency location or university.

[8filltheheart]

Children who were wards of the state in foster care after the age of 13 are considered independent for FA purposes even if adopted later. That means the adopted parents' financial info does not need to be provided.

Quote

students who are in foster care, aged out of foster care or were adopted out of foster care after reaching age 13 are considered automatically independent on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). ....

the previous statutory language, which did not mention foster care explicitly, just orphans and wards of the court. The previous statutory language also required the student to either currently be an orphan or ward of the court, or to have been one through age 18. The law was changed to allow teenage foster care children to be adopted without losing eligibility for federal student aid.

 

[DawnM]

Well, I was adopted and I got nothing......for being adopted.  

I have adopted a child and as far as I know (and from others who have adopted), he is treated just like my bio kids when it comes to scholarships.

[JanetC]

Yep -- your friend should be saving money towards college just like a birth mom would be.

[Lanny]

I think if the child is a U.S. Citizen, or has a Green Card and the parent also is a U.S. Citizen or has a Green Card, and the child was adopted legally, there are no issues. And, yes, I seem to recall, when looking over the lists of available scholarships on the CollegeBoard.org web site (Big Future?) or on Scholarships America, that there may have been a few for people who had been adopted.  I think there are some questions on the FAFSA about that and there may be on the Common App too.   Something to look into.

[Lori D.]

It looks like most financial aid goes to adopted children who came out of the foster care system. If no foster care was involved with the adoption process, then it doesn't look like there is any specific aid, unless the adopted child comes from a non-white racial/ethnic background -- then the child would be eligible to apply for scholarships and aid that is specifically for Latino, or Asian, or Black, or other background (and the adoption aspect is irrelevant).

Here are some resources to check out if the student was adopted from the foster system:
- Adopted / Foster Child / Orphan Scholarships -- list of specific scholarships with links for more info
- Child Welfare: Educational Assistance -- list of college financial aid helps for *foster children* (adopted or not)
- "How to Cover College Costs For Your Child Adopted From Foster Care" article:
   * explains that FAFSA does not count adoptive parents' financial info when adopting a child age 13 or older
   * lists some states/colleges that have tuition waivers for children adopted from foster care
   * lists some states/colleges that offer scholarships to children adopted from foster care

Edited October 17, 2018 by Lori D.

[Melissa B]

In Florida, if you adopt from Children and Families (ward of the state) the child gets free tuition at any state college/university. The child still has to meet the admission requirements. If a college decides to stretch that law a bit, I guess that is between the specific school and family.