Several states offer reduced or waived tuition for students who were adopted after a certain age, usually 14 or 16, as well as those who spent time in foster care during their teens.
Each state has an Independent Living program run through the state's Department of Social Services that helps young adults transition out of foster care; this program includes education benefits.
Orphan Foundation of America, National Foster Parent Association and the National Resource Center for Youth Development all give out private scholarships to adopted and foster care children.
The Gordon Evans scholarship is for biological or adopted children of parents in the Foster Care system, while the Birth Mother Scholarship Program offered by American Adoptions is for mothers who have given their children up for adoption.
College financial aid offices can provide comprehensive information about university-specific awards; both the University of Louisville and the University of Massachusetts offer tuition waivers through their state offices.