US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families/Government grant
Chafee Education and Training Voucher
Amount variesNot guaranteedLimited number available
Up to 5,000 dollars a year toward the cost of college or a training programme, for young people who were in foster care at fourteen or later. Up to five years of it, and you can stay eligible to twenty six. Every state runs its own application, so the amount and the deadline are set where you live.
Set by your state, and capped by federal law at the lesser of 5,000 dollars a year or your total cost of attendance. There is no minimum, so it can be much less. No more than five years in total, and they do not have to be consecutive.
Rolling, apply any time
What you need
The official page does not list required documents. Check the official page before you apply, since a provider can ask for paperwork it does not publish.
How to apply
- 1Ask your state child welfare agency for the ETV applicationEvery state runs its own, usually under the name ETV or Chafee. Your caseworker, an independent living coordinator, or the financial aid office at the college you are going to will know where it is.
- 2File the FAFSAThe voucher covers unmet need against your cost of attendance, so it is worked out after your other aid. It cannot be calculated until the FAFSA is done.
Where this comes from
- Official source
- https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title42/html/USCODE-2023-title42-chap7-subchapIV-partE-sec677.htm
- Last checked by SCRN
- 2026-09-03Verified null days ago
- How it was verified
- Checked against the official page by a person at SCRN
- Source level
- Provider verifiedRead from the provider's own page.
- Deadline
- RollingSet by your state, not by federal law. Some states take applications all year and some have one date. Ask your state child welfare agency or the caseworker you had.
- How often
- annual