HBCU looking to offer foster care students HOPE (and money)

Livingstone College is using its HBCU mission to target students aging out of foster care with a program built to remove barriers to higher education.

The Salisbury, North Carolina-based institution is doing that through the H.O.P.E. Emancipation Project. The initiative offers a full support system for foster care youth who want to attend college but may lack the financial, emotional or family support that many students depend on.

Qualified students can receive an investment of up to $35,000. That support can cover tuition, on-campus housing, a meal plan and coordinated mental health services. Students are also paired with a dedicated success coach.

That last piece is especially important. The transition from foster care to adulthood can be difficult. The transition to college can be even harder. Livingstone College is trying to make sure those students do not have to navigate either journey alone.

Livingstone College builds support beyond tuition

The H.O.P.E. Emancipation Project is already showing results.

The program's Alpha Cohort enrolled 22 students. According to Livingstone College, 95 percent of those students are still persisting in college. One student has already graduated. Another is scheduled to graduate in December.

The academic numbers are strong as well. Forty percent of the cohort currently holds a GPA between 3.5 and 4.0. The program also reports that 95 percent of students said they feel a strong sense of belonging on campus.

That sense of belonging is a key part of the HBCU experience. For foster care students, it can be the difference between surviving college and thriving in it.

Livingstone College says less than one percent of children in foster care attend college. President Dr. Anthony Davis is working to change that number.

Davis is a foster care alumnus himself. He was born in Connecticut to a teen mother and entered foster care after his grandmother died on the day he was born. He was raised by a caring foster mother. His journey shaped his belief in education.

"These students are just like me. I always wanted to go to college but could not. There were many barriers but no bridges. My dream was deferred, delayed, but never denied," Davis said. "I am committed to ensuring that the same elevator that enabled me to go from Foster Care to The President's Chair will be in place for someone else."

Foster care students get an HBCU pathway

For an HBCU founded to educate students often overlooked by larger systems, the mission fits. Livingstone College is not just recruiting students aging out of foster care. It is building a bridge for them.

The H.O.P.E. Emancipation Project is about access. It is also about completion.

And for foster care youth who have been told college is out of reach, Livingstone College is making a different statement.

There is a place for them. There is a plan for them. And there is a path forward.

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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 8:17 AM.