nsoro provides college-preparatory programs and direct educational scholarships for youth in foster care, those who've "aged out" of the foster care system, and wards of the state. 

Darrell Mays, founder of nsoro, was moved to this mission after viewing the PBS documentary, "Aging Out" on the plight of aged-out foster care kids. 

Kids who've spent time in the foster care system are already far more likely to:

Be socially disconnected
Perform poorly in school
Struggle with drugs, alcohol, and mental illness
Experience poverty

But once "aged-out," life gets far riskier for them. Often with no place to live anymore, largely unable to fend for themselves, and with little or no positive guidance in their lives, these kids are dangerously vulnerable to take a wrong turn in life. 

nsoro steps up and steps in during this precarious period in their lives, and driven by this deep and abiding belief: education is the great equalizer in life. 

Our mission is to reverse this grim statistic...
A mere 3% of youth in foster care graduates from college. 

nsoro is successfully rewriting the future life stories of these youth in foster care across the country—700+ since 2005—with these two programs:

Direct Educational Scholarships
to be used for tuition, books, room/board, and other academic expenses

College Bound Program
In weeklong, summer immersion programs on eight (and counting) college campuses, high school level youth in foster care "test-drive" a real-world experience.

The Results:
our nsoro scholars:
100% have graduated or are still enrolled in school
70% are pursuing an advanced degree
98% have not been incarcerated
96% have not abused drugs or alcohol
78% have not been homeless
75% have developed and maintained a budget

The nsoro Educational Foundation

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