Throughout my final years of high school and college, I was homeless and on my own, without a parent or guardian to rely on, or a safe, stable place to call home. I was determined to go to college, because I knew it was my surest path out of poverty and homelessness. Now, as a director at SchoolHouse Connection, a leading advocacy organization addressing youth homelessness, I know I was right: education was my path out of homelessness. But the antiquated financial aid process for unaccompanied homeless youth almost caused me to drop-out, year after year.
When I was a senior in high school, my guidance counselor helped me apply for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Thankfully, she was knowledgeable about my situation and financial aid processes for homeless youth, and she helped me get a determination letter verifying that I was homeless without a parent or guardian. Not long after, I was awarded enough aid to attend and I moved into a residence hall a few months later.
Courtesy of Schoolhouse Connection
Jordyn Roark is director of youth leadership and scholarships at SchoolHouse Connection.
When I got to college, I wasn’t as lucky. When I tried to apply for aid for my sophomore year, I was told that I needed to do a dependency override, a lengthy process requiring letters from people like police, social workers and judges to determine, once again, that I was an unaccompanied homeless youth. I did not have any contact or background with these individuals and I immediately felt overwhelmed at the thought that I might not receive aid or be able to attend the next school year.
I began to realize that there was a detrimental lack of education regarding the rights of students experiencing homelessness, so I started reading the federal financial aid guidance myself, reaching out to national experts and advocating for myself and my rights at my university.
After weeks of delays, I remember being in tears one night in my residence hall computer lab when I found a letter from the U.S. Department of Education that showed my university’s financial aid office was wrong: All I needed was to re-confirm my unaccompanied homeless youth status, which my university’s financial aid administrator could have done through a quick documented interview.
I printed out the U.S. Department of Education letter and brought it to my financial aid administrator, who read it and agreed that all I needed was an interview with her.
But next year, it seemed like nothing had changed: I was once again told I needed a dependency override. I had an immediate sense of shock and defeat, but fought back and won by bringing the same U.S. Department of Education letter to the desk of my financial aid administrator after another major delay in my award package.
Senior year, I won the Outstanding Senior Award. I was a student ambassador, a member of the honors college, and I had a 3.8 GPA. I was an ideal student for my university, doing everything right and everything in my power to stay in school — and it almost wasn’t enough, due to having to prove my homelessness each year and the financial aid office lacking education in how to serve unaccompanied homeless youth. I now see this exact situation play out in the lives of students around the country. This is the reality for unaccompanied homeless youth and it needs to change.
Currently, at least 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness on their own, without a parent or guardian.
These young people are among the most vulnerable in our nation, often contending with histories of abuse, neglect, trauma and frequent educational disruption caused by mobility. Without parental care or other adult support, unaccompanied homeless youth frequently lack the basics that most of us take for granted, like shelter and food.
Higher education is, increasingly, their best path to a stable, well-paid job and a better life, but far too few are able to enroll in, or afford, college.
Thanks to Congress, the 2023-2024 school year can bring significant change — but only if the Department of Education promptly follows through on legislators’ intent.
In December of 2020, Congress passed sweeping bipartisan legislation that simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process for unaccompanied homeless youth. The FAFSA Simplification Act eliminates the requirement that unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness and former foster youth prove their homeless status every year, removing a significant financial aid barrier.
These changes come at a critical time. In the 2019-2020 school year, 26 states saw a drop in unaccompanied homeless youth FAFSA determinations. Although the U.S. Department of Education has not yet released data about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on FAFSA determinations for unaccompanied homeless youth, general FAFSA data indicates that FAFSA completion is down nearly 5 percent among all high school students, and down by more than 6 percent among students attending high-poverty high schools. This is largely due to a lack of in-person FAFSA assistance and remote learning making it difficult for students to obtain documentation regarding unaccompanied homeless youth status.
The FAFSA Simplification Act sends a message to youth experiencing homelessness like I was that we are seen and that we are worthy of an education. I urge the Department of Education to act on the flexibility given by Congress to implement these changes on time, in the 2023-2024 award year.
Additionally, as thrilled as I am about its passage, FAFSA simplification is just the first step of many needed to provide long-term support to our most vulnerable youth. Opening doors doesn’t mean much if our students don’t have the resources or support to stay enrolled in college and graduate. That’s why I call on Congress to pass the Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act (HEASHFY), which will require that institutions designate liaisons to support homeless and foster students and that schools prioritize them for on-campus housing among other supports.
Many adults who are homeless today are the youth we failed to support yesterday. Removing barriers to higher education helps ensure more students from all walks of life have strong and clear pathways to economic independence and stability. For their futures — and all of ours — it’s time for the Department of Education to implement FAFSA Simplification for homeless students, and for Congress to make HEASHFY the law.
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Jordyn Roark, the Director of Youth Leadership and Scholarships at SchoolHouse Connection, has dedicated her personal and professional life to serving youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, ensuring that they can get to and through higher education. Using her own story of youth and young adult homelessness, Jordyn has traveled the country providing keynotes and training to young people, organizations, and professionals on the barriers that students experiencing homelessness face and tips for increasing their access to higher education. She holds a master’s degree in social work and hails from Eastern North Carolina.
