Pennsylvania Chafee Education and Training Grant
Offered by Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
About this scholarship
The Pennsylvania Chafee Education and Training Grant helps eligible current and former foster youth pay the cost of undergraduate education or career training. Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services and PHEAA state that awards may reach $5,000 per academic year, but funding is not guaranteed and cannot exceed the student’s remaining cost of attendance after other financial aid. Eligible students may receive support for as many as five years, defined as ten semesters or the equivalent, before age 26; the years do not have to be consecutive. Applicants must be Pennsylvania residents who qualify for the state’s Chafee transition services because they experienced foster care at age 16 or older, including certain youth who left foster care for adoption or permanent legal custodianship after age 16. They must hold a high school diploma or Commonwealth Secondary School Diploma and enroll at least half time as undergraduates at a college or career school approved for federal Title IV aid. The application process is annual: complete the FAFSA, download the current Chafee ETG application from PHEAA’s Documents and Forms section, and mail the completed form to PHEAA. Applicants are also automatically evaluated for Pennsylvania’s related FosterED tuition waiver.
Eligibility
- Be a Pennsylvania resident eligible for services under the state Chafee Foster Care program
- Have experienced foster care at age 16 or older or exited foster care after age 16 to adoption or permanent legal custodianship
- Be younger than 26 on July 1 of the upcoming academic year
- Have a high school diploma or Commonwealth Secondary School Diploma
- Enroll at least half time as an undergraduate at a Title IV-approved college or career school
- Demonstrate financial need and maintain satisfactory academic progress
- Not be in default on a federal student loan or owe a refund on Title IV aid
- Complete the FAFSA and mail the current Chafee ETG application to PHEAA each year
- Have used fewer than five years or ten semesters of Chafee ETG assistance