Post-Secondary Scholarships for Foster Youth (18-26)

AFFCF accepts new scholarship applications two times per year. Our scholarship application is open every April 1 to April 30 for applicants who will take classes in the fall semester (August – December) and every November 1 to November 30 for new applications who will take classes in the spring semester (January – May).

Examples:
A student who will graduate high school in the spring and plans to start college in the fall would apply for the AFFCF scholarship between June 1 and June 30 for the fall semester.

A student who will start or continue classes in the fall would apply between June 1 and June 30 for the fall semester.

A student who will start or continue classes in the spring would apply between November 15 and December 15 for the spring semester.

It will be easiest to complete the application on a computer because you will need to upload documents.

• You will need to have your class schedule for the upcoming semester (showing enrollment in at least six credit hours).
• You will need to have your most recent transcript (unofficial is fine) or proof of having passed the GED.
• You will need to have your FAFSA Submission Summary.
• You will need to write three short personal essays about your goals in pursuing post-secondary education and to provide a little more information about yourself (minimum 250 words each).
• You will need to have a letter of recommendation from a personal or academic reference. You can either upload the letter to your application or request it via email from your reference directly from the AFFCF scholarship application.
• If you would like to include a photo that you feel best represents yourself, you should have one picked out.

Please answer “Yes” to the question about having a cumulative GPA of 2.0 on the application and upload proof of having passed the GED.

No, you can sign in and out of your account as many times as you need to during the application period. The system automatically saves your work.

No. You can start the application and add in your letters of recommendation once you receive them. You will need to attach them and submit your application prior to the application deadline.

OR

You can also choose to email your references through the application itself. AFFCF recommends that you speak to your references about providing letters of recommendation before emailing them the request through the application. When you email your references through the application, they receive an email with instructions on how to upload their letter of recommendation directly to your application. You still need to submit your application prior to the application deadline.

If your references do not provide your letters of recommendation through the system, your application will be considered incomplete and will not be reviewed.

Go to https://affcfscholarship.awardspring.com.

The Barbara Polk Healthcare Scholarship is a scholarship available for four semesters for undergraduate and/or graduate degree-seeking students studying healthcare fields. It is structured to provide the most support (financially) to students who are studying upper-level coursework of undergraduate study or who are in graduate medical or healthcare programs, periods when students may not be able to work due to clinical rotations, demand of coursework, etc.

Eligible students for the Polk Scholarship are:

• Those who reached (or will be reaching) age 18 as wards of the state of Arizona or in tribal foster care in Arizona
• Those who are under the age of 25
• 3.0 minimum cumulative GPA required
• Full-time enrollment required
• Studying an undergraduate or graduate healthcare degree
• One letter of recommendation from a teacher or professor of a health-related or science class required

If you would like to apply for the AFFCF Scholarship in addition to the Barbara Polk Scholarship, please also include the following. You can use the same letter of recommendation from a teacher or professor of a health-related or science class for both the AFFCF Scholarship and the Barbara Polk scholarship applications:

• Student’s most recent transcript
• FAFSA Submission Summary
• Student’s upcoming class schedule

If you are already a member of the AFFCF Scholarship program, you have already completed the AFFCF Scholarship application in the past. For that reason, please put “N/A” for the personal essay sections on the AFFCF Scholarship application. Also, you do not need to upload the letter of recommendation that the AFFCF Scholarship application requires, only the recommendation from a teacher or professor of a health-related or science class for the Barbara Polk scholarship application.

The AFFCF Focus Forward Fund is designed to help young men and women who have aged out of foster care overcome emergency expenses that could derail their education. These funds are not intended to be used for long-term, ongoing expenses.

To receive assistance through the AFFCF Focus Forward Fund, youth must:

• Have reached age 16 as a ward of the court in Arizona or in Tribal foster care in Arizona (AFFCF confirms eligibility with the appropriate agency once a student submits an application.)
• Be enrolled in college or a vocational program (must be enrolled in post-secondary education, not dually enrolled in high school)
• Be age 16 to 26 years
• Complete a budget form to show sources of income and expenses.

Current employment is preferred when considering requests.

Most award categories will be made one time in a 12-month period. Several award categories are limited to one-time awards. Please see the award guidelines for details. Awards are limited to two requests per quarter.

The AFFCF Post-Secondary Education Resource Guide is very useful and contains a lot of valuable information. An online version (with clickable links) is available here.

Please contact AFFCF’s Post-Secondary program manager, Erika Klotz, at eklotz@affcf.org or 602.775.5786.