Date of Degree
2025
Degree Name
Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)
Department
Department of Counseling and Higher Education (CAHE)
Director
Kortegast, Carrie
Committee Members
Jaekel, Katy; Wesener-Michael, Kelly
Keywords
Foster care alumni, Validation theory, Resiliency theory, resilience, community college
Abstract
ABSTRACT
“OH, I AM A COLLEGE STUDENT. THIS IS GOOD!”: A CASE STUDY OF THE VALIDATION EXPERIENCES AND RESILIENCY OF FOSTER CARE ALUMNI IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Foster care alumni navigate complex barriers while attending community college, including trauma from their previous experiences with the foster care system, lower academic and social preparedness, and challenges navigating basic needs and mental health supports. Despite this adversity, foster care alumni are also remarkably resilient, often relying on their self-reliance and inner strength to achieve their goals in college. This case study examines the experiences of foster care alumni at Sagebrush Community College (pseudonym), guided by Rendón’s validation theory and resiliency theory to further the understanding of foster care alumni attending community college. The findings demonstrate that validation experiences early in college empower foster care alumni to successfully navigate the adversities they face while in college, which leads to their success. This study also underscores the importance of developing institutional strategies to provide tailored support to foster care alumni, including faculty training, mentorship programs, and collaborative efforts with caseworkers in the foster care system. By centering the lived experiences of foster care alumni in community college, this study offers recommendations for providing proactive interventions and a supportive environment for these students where they can thrive as college students and learners.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses and dissertations are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors, unless otherwise indicated.
Recommended Citation
Mumford, Candida, ""OH, I AM A COLLEGE STUDENT. THIS IS GOOD!": A CASE STUDY OF THE VALIDATION EXPERIENCES AND RESILIENCY OF FOSTER CARE ALUMNI IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE" (2025). Dissertations of Practice. 73.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-disspractice/73
