Studying when you come from a foster or group home

It is a programme built for the exact moment a young person turns eighteen, leaves the foster or group home, and suddenly has neither a house nor anyone to sign for them. The Act puts the duty on the postsecondary institution: whatever no federal or local grant covers of tuition, housing, food, materials and any other necessary expense, the institution covers, and is later reimbursed by the Board. There is an important notice about the programme’s dates, and it comes below because it is the first thing you need to know.

The Act defines “Students” as those “admitted or seeking admission to a Postsecondary Institution who resided in a Foster Home or Group Home,” referring for those two terms to Act 246-2011 and Act 173-2016, which we did not read. The policy declaration describes the central case: young people from foster or group homes “who were left without a home upon turning eighteen (18).” “Postsecondary Institution” includes both university institutions and those with technical-vocational offerings, public or private. Article 5 adds that the student must meet the requirements set by regulation, which “must include, but not be limited to, academic achievement”; we did not read that regulation.

• Have resided in a foster home or a group home, as those terms are defined in Act 246-2011 and Act 173-2016.Verified against the official source
• Be admitted or seeking admission to a duly licensed postsecondary institution in Puerto Rico, university or technical-vocational, public or private.Verified against the official source
• Meet the requirements set by regulation, which must include academic achievement.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: First of all: the programme had an end date

   We put this first because it is what most matters before you make plans. Article 7 says: “The Pilot Plan shall begin in school year 2020-2021 and shall extend for the following five (5) school years.” Counting from the text, that window runs through the 2025-2026 school year. It is August 2026 and the compilation we read, revised to September 28, 2020, carries no amendment extending it. We are not telling you the programme is closed: a later act could have extended it and that compilation would not show it. Nor are we telling you it is open. We are telling you exactly what the text we read says, and who can confirm it: the Board of Postsecondary Institutions of the Department of State.

2. 2

   Step 2: Who pays: the institution, not you

   This is the architecture that makes this programme different. Article 4 provides that “every Postsecondary Institution duly licensed in Puerto Rico as such must provide the following incentives to such Students,” and at the end clarifies who replaces the money: “The expenses incurred by the Postsecondary Institutions for the incentives granted in this Article shall be reimbursed by the Board.” It is not that you apply for a cheque and wait: the institution covers and is reimbursed afterwards.

3. 3

   Step 3: Tuition: whatever no grant covers

   The rule is a gap-filler, not a substitute, which is why the order matters. The text says: “Any part of the tuition cost not covered by any grant issued by the federal or local Government shall be covered by the Postsecondary Institution.” First come whatever grants you are entitled to; what is left uncovered the institution pays.

4. 4

   Step 4: Housing, even if the institution has no dorms

   The Act foresaw both situations. If the institution has housing facilities, it covers the part no grant covers. And if it has none: “that Institution may reach agreements with external lodgings to be used by students participating in the Pilot Programme. In those cases, the part of the housing cost not covered by any grant issued by the federal or local Government shall be covered by the Postsecondary Institution.” For a young person who lost their home at eighteen, this is the part that decides whether they can study.

5. 5

   Step 5: Food, materials and “any other necessary expense”

   The remaining three subsections of Article 4 close the gaps. Food: institutions with facilities serving prepared food “shall allow free consumption of it by participants,” and those without them “shall establish a voucher programme so Students may obtain food at external establishments.” Equipment and materials: free at their own facilities, or by voucher if there are none. And subsection (e), the broadest: “Any other expense necessary for the Student to pursue studies at the Postsecondary Institution shall be covered by it.”

6. 6

   Step 6: The calendar that runs at the institution, not on you

   Worth knowing so you ask at the right time. Every institution submits to the Board, “on or before January 31 of each year,” an application for funds for the next school year with an initial projection report; “No later than May 31 of each year” it submits the application with the final report, which may be for a lesser or greater amount — greater only if the number of participants rose or if the report establishes convincingly that the increase was due to reasons beyond its control. And “The Board shall approve, amend or deny the initial applications no later than April 30 of each year, taking into account the number of participating Students and available funds.” If you are going to ask, it helps that the institution has counted you before January.

7. 7

   Step 7: One hundred students a year, subject to funds

   The same Article 7 sets the cap: “The Pilot Programme’s incentives shall be available for a maximum of one hundred (100) students per academic year, subject to available funds.” It is a pilot with a quota, and the Act says so plainly.

8. 8

   Step 8: What the Board had to regulate

   This explains why this guide carries no amounts. Article 6 requires the Board to establish by regulation, at minimum: the maximum funds available for tuition; the reimbursable amount for materials, equipment and food — with the possibility of authorizing increases upon justification; the maximum reimbursable for housing “after analysing their average cost,” which “may be established by zones or regions”; the information required in the application and reports; and the periodic and final reports on the use of funds. The Act closes that article with a limit on the Board itself: any other matter it deems necessary, “without this being understood as an authorization to impose requirements that limit the purposes of this Act.”

The Act puts the duty on the postsecondary institution where you study or want to study, so that is where you ask first: the financial aid or admissions office. The body that administers the funds and reimburses institutions is the Board of Postsecondary Institutions of the Department of State, and it is also the one that can confirm whether the Pilot Programme is still active. The Act publishes no student form, address or telephone, and we do not invent them.

• Assuming the programme is still open: its written term ran through school year 2025-2026 and we could not verify an extension.
• Expecting to apply for a cheque yourself: the institution covers the expenses and the Board reimburses it afterwards.
• Believing it replaces federal grants: it covers the part no federal or local grant covers.
• Thinking it does not apply if the institution has no dorms: the Act allows agreements with external lodgings.
• Asking in May about next year: the institution submits its initial application to the Board on or before January 31.
• Assuming it covers only universities: the Act includes institutions with technical-vocational offerings.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Estado de Puerto Rico

  Departamento de Estado

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov