Education & Student Aid · Surprise rank #272
Were You in Foster Care After Age 13? New York Colleges Have Money and Staff Set Aside for You
The Foster Youth College Success Initiative gives current and former foster youth extra college funding on top of regular aid, plus dedicated campus staff. It can cover tuition, books, transportation and on-campus housing.
Who
New York State residents who spent at least one night in foster care on or after their 13th birthday (including foster care in another state, if verified by OCFS), students living with a relative under a kinship or KinGAP agreement, students adopted from foster care on or after age 13, and orphans whose parents both died before the student turned 18 where the student was not adopted before age 13.
Where: New York State — SUNY, CUNY and HEOP-hosting private colleges statewide.
What to do
Start here: Download form OCFS-3165, the FYCSI consent form, and email it to FCY4College@ocfs.ny.gov so OCFS can verify your history. Then tell your college's financial aid office you have submitted it and ask who handles FYCSI on campus. The consent form is available in Spanish, Chinese, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Russian, Korean, Arabic, Urdu, Yiddish, French, Italian and Polish.
Eligibility: Current New York State residency; qualifying foster care, kinship, post-13 adoption or orphan status; and enrollment as a matriculated undergraduate at a SUNY or CUNY college, or at a private New York college that hosts an HEOP program. You do not have to be enrolled in EOP, HEOP, SEEK or College Discovery yourself to receive FYCSI funds.
What you get
FYCSI is a New York State program run by the State Education Department in partnership with OCFS. It sends money to colleges specifically to support students with foster care experience, and campuses use it for costs regular aid leaves uncovered — tuition and fees, books, transportation, on-campus housing and other expenses needed to stay enrolled. Campuses also assign staff to these students; CUNY, for example, connects them with master's-level social work interns. Some campuses additionally offer low-cost or free residence hall housing over winter break, when dorms normally close.
Benefit: Supplemental funding applied to unmet college costs — tuition and fees, books, transportation, housing — plus dedicated academic and social-emotional support staff, and college application fee waivers.
Possible value: Amounts vary by campus because the state divides funds among the SUNY, CUNY and independent-college sectors and allots them per campus based on how many eligible students enroll. The practical value is the gap between your other aid and your real cost of attending, which for a residential student can run into thousands of dollars a year, plus support services that are not otherwise purchasable.
Good to know
Important: The biggest limit is where you enroll: at a private college, FYCSI funds are only available if that college hosts an HEOP program — so a private school without HEOP means no FYCSI, no matter your history. Living with a relative or family friend under a guardianship arrangement, without documented foster care history or orphan status after age 13, does not qualify. Nothing is paid until you are enrolled, OCFS or campus staff has confirmed eligibility, and the college knows you are seeking it — so submitting the consent form alone is not enough.
Availability: Active; funding is allocated to campuses each year, so amounts and what they cover vary by college.
Why people miss it: Young people who left care years ago assume the system is done with them, and one night in foster care after a 13th birthday sounds far too small to matter — but it is enough to qualify.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026