More students in foster care are earning diplomas, but graduation, attendance and academic results still fall well behind those of other California students.
New data shows that in the 2024–25 school year, 66.6% of California students in foster care graduated within four years, up from 63.6% the previous year. Among students who were not in foster care, the rate was 87.7%. That leaves a gap of 21.1 percentage points.
For students in foster care, school can be one of the few steady parts of life. But when living arrangements change or other disruptions occur, it can become harder to keep up with schoolwork and stay connected to teachers and classmates.
Housing instability can affect students well beyond the home. Our article on California’s record number of students experiencing homelessness looks at how unstable living arrangements can affect attendance, academic performance and graduation.
The latest figures show progress, but California still has a long way to go to close the graduation gap.
The dropout rate for foster youth fell from 24.9% to 20.7%. That is an improvement, but the rate remains much higher than the 7.8% rate for students who were not in foster care.
Chronic absenteeism is another concern. In 2024–25, 37.3% of foster youth were chronically absent, compared with 37.0% the year before. Among students who were not in foster care, the rate was 19.3%.
The state’s 2026 legislative report describes a decline in chronic absenteeism during its reporting period. But the annual figures show a slight increase for foster youth between the two most recent school years. California’s Department of Education also cautions that results from its Dashboard and DataQuest systems can differ.
School stability improved slightly. The share of foster youth who remained in the same school rose from 66.6% to 67.0%. For students who were not in foster care, the rate was 91.6%.
California’s 2025 School Dashboard showed gains in English language arts and math for foster youth. English language arts results improved by 7.4 points, while math results improved by 3.2 points.
Those gains matter, but students in foster care are still well below state academic standards. Their English language arts scores were 79.8 points below standard, and their math scores were 121.9 points below standard.
Across the state, all students were an average of 8.1 points below standard in English language arts and 42.4 points below standard in math.
These gaps are part of a broader debate over educational opportunity in California. Parriva has also talked about why achievement gaps persist for Latino students despite years of education reform. The groups and circumstances are not the same, but both sets of results raise questions about whether schools are reaching students who face barriers to learning.
What California Is Doing
California’s Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program works through county offices of education to help schools support students in foster care.
The state’s 2026 legislative report recommends stable funding for district foster youth liaisons, a broader role for those liaisons, more academic support and restorative practices. It also recommends continued funding for the statewide program.
These recommendations point to the importance of consistent support. But the data alone do not show which programs, if any, caused the changes in graduation, attendance or academic performance.
For caregivers and families, the numbers raise practical questions. Is a student getting the help they need to keep up with schoolwork? Does the school know when a change in placement could interrupt attendance? And who will help the student stay on track toward graduation?
For more on changes that could affect students and families, read our guide to five recent California education changes, including new provisions affecting college costs for qualifying current and former foster youth.
More foster youth are graduating, and the dropout rate has fallen. Those gains matter. But the gaps in graduation, attendance, school stability and academic performance show that progress alone has not closed the divide.
The next challenge is making sure more students benefit from that progress and have steady support to finish school and prepare for what comes next.
Sources: California Department of Education, Foster Youth Data, Foster Youth Data and Reports, and 2026 Foster Youth Services Coordinating Program Legislative Report.
