Augsburg’s support for foster students serves as a model

The Imprint recently published an in-depth look at Augsburg Family Scholars, the program for former foster students that has grown from nine students in 2022 to 38 today. The Imprint is a national media organization that focuses on U.S. child welfare and youth justice systems.

“​​​​I kind of got tired of being a professor who talked in my family sociology class about the problems of the system and hoped my students would go do something,” said Tim Pippert, Augsburg’s Joel S. Torstenson Endowed Professor, who launched the program three years ago. “I just wanted to stop ignoring that and see what we could do as an institution.”

The answer was Augsburg Family Scholars, the only college-based program in the state of Minnesota designed to narrow the opportunity gap for students with foster care backgrounds through a combination of financial assistance, targeted academic support, and an intentional sense of community. 

Pippert says Graduate Assistant Savannah Mitchell is an essential part of the program’s success, building trust and connection with students who have often had to rely only on themselves. 

“I really needed a lot more support,’’ Mitchell said, reflecting on her own college experience following foster care. “I needed financial support and housing support and food resources, and stuff like that. I didn’t know how to get car insurance, I needed my own phone plan, a bunch of things like that … It’s been really rewarding helping people go to college and helping them struggle less than what I did when I went to college.” 

Read the full story via The Imprint: “Foster Youth Find Rare Support at Minnesota University”