This site has been specially created for former foster youth seeking advanced degrees.
Whether you are a working professional thinking about heading back for a graduate degree, an undergraduate exploring career options, or a high school student thinking about the future, this site has much of the information you will need.
Applying to graduate school is a complex process, but we’ve broken it down into steps and processes. There are suggestions, links to resources and examples of essays of successful applicants. The information is based on over four years of working with former foster youth, also known as care leavers, pursuing advanced degrees through a pilot project at the University of California Davis, the Guardian Professions Program. Our work resulted in GPP associated students gaining admissions to graduate school programs at CSUs and UCs across California, as well as at private schools such as USC, Stanford, and Boston University.
In 2020, a group of young professionals who had benefited from the GPP began collaborating on a new project with the former GPP director called MAPS (Mentoring for Advanced and Professional Success). This organization has the same goal as the pilot project: to assist former foster youth, also known as care leavers, apply to graduate and professional degree programs and move on in their careers.
The About page provides an introduction to the site and more information about the history of the GPP. Read the article The Guardian Professions Program: Developing an advanced degree mentoring program for California’s foster care alumni in the journal Child and Family Services Review.
Getting Prepared for Graduate School 