College-age foster kids in New York City are now eligible to receive up to $15,000 for tuition and $60-a-day stipends under an expanded assistance program Mayor Adams made public for the first time Tuesday.
The College Choice program will build upon an initiative known as the Dorm Project, which provided year-round housing for foster children in college, as well as daily stipends of $31 a day.
During a news conference unveiling the new initiative at City College’s uptown campus, Adams described it as a “major milestone” in his administration and a campaign promise fulfilled.
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“Education is the way. If you don’t educate, you will incarcerate and you will devastate the lives of people who are abandoned along the way,” Adams said. “We got their backs because we’re going to need them to have our backs.”
The total cost of the program is $10 million a year — the same amount of money it cost the city’s Administration for Children’s Services to run the Dorm Project. That agency’s commissioner, Jess Dannhauser, said the city was able to keep the cost level through maximizing subsidies that kids in foster care are eligible for.
“The city dollar only starts on the tuition when young people have maximized,” he said, referring to state and federal subsidies. “There’s so much available for youth in foster care.”
The program will continue to cover student’s dormitory and boarding costs not covered by financial aid, and will expand its eligibility from students attending City University of New York schools to foster care kids attending any college — public or private — within the five boroughs.
“This program is the best. It’s a Cadillac with all the bells and whistles,” said CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodríguez. “We want to give them choice. I’m obviously a little biased about where they can go, but, you know, choice is good.”
