A new addition to our Falcon Family is the Middle College Program. This program will allow people in the foster system, ages sixteen and older, to work with the Department of Education to earn their high school credits and be awarded their high school diploma by the end of the two-year program. Simultaneously, they will also be enrolled full-time in college classes so that by the end of the two years, they will also receive an associate’s degree. As the program has only just begun, there are currently just under twenty students enrolled in the program with a new cohort on its way next semester. The program is currently accepting referrals to join the spring 2025 semester. Referrals can be entered through the Fairmont State University website or the KVC website. The Middle College program focuses on providing these students with a safe and enriching environment where they can focus on pursuing their education. Middle College students live in Prichard Hall year-round. They are also provided with a meal plan alongside their sixty-dollar-a-month allowance, just as any foster youth is given. On average, only around 3% of children in foster care will go on to achieve a college degree, this program works to provide the necessary opportunities to increase this number. The enrolled students are given the same rights to visit family members, just as any other person in the foster system would receive.
This program is the first of its kind in the country and hopes to grow and allow many foster youths to have the opportunities they need for success. This program is ten years in the making and has found its home at Fairmont State. One of the employees at Middle College, Sophia Conrad, had this to say, “We imagine that, in the future, students could enroll into Middle College and be able to choose what college or university they attend. Right now, this is the only program of it’s kind, here at Fairmont State. In the future, we hope that we can not only branch out to other universities in West Virginia, but also to other schools across the country. That’s the dream.”
On Friday, September 20th, the Middle College program held its inaugural ribbon-cutting ceremony in front of Prichard Hall. Governor Jim Justice was in attendance alongside, Fairmont State President Mike Davis, Provost Dr. Dianna Phillips, Dean of the Middle College Emily Swain, Executive Vice President of KVCWV Brent Lemon, as well as several other sponsors and contributors from KVC and state legislature.
KVC and Fairmont State partnered to make this program possible. Other partners include the Department of Human Services, the Department of Education, and Marion County Schools. For those interested in working with the Middle College Program, applications are being accepted through the KVC website. As the first program of its kind, the full extent of this program’s impact on the foster system as a whole is yet to be seen, but it is certainly impacting the future of the kids in the program so far.
