Five years after leaving welfare, nearly 80 percent of women remained poor or near poor. All who had degrees were off welfare. Over half had gone on to undertake additional training, and 22 percent were in graduate school. Those who had completed a 4-year degree were the most likely to have left welfare for stable employment and adequate earnings to support a family. Students who are on welfare may not be able to work or attend school because they cannot afford or find adequate child care or transportation or may be ill or disabled.
Special programs can greatly help women on public assistance succeed in postsecondary programs.
For some of the CUNY colleges, up to 40 percent of their students were on welfare or from families on welfare. About 80 percent of these students were people of color, and 63 percent were women of color. Gittell et al. evaluated several special programs that were designed specifically for welfare recipients and that provided a mix of counseling, academic support, and financial aid. The students who were in programs that combined more rigorous requirements with more extensive services targeted to student needs did better than any other group of students. Students on welfare in all of these programs made above-average progress toward their degrees, which was not the case with welfare students not in programs.