Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program

The Education and Training Voucher (or ETV) program provides additional money for former foster youth who enroll in a college or training program. You may be eligible to receive up to $5,000 per year under the ETV program to help with housing, food, books, childcare, computer equipment, medical insurance, transportation, tuition (if it is not a Texas public school where you can use your tuition and fee waiver), and some other expenses. The best part is that this benefit is in addition to the State College Tuition and Fee Waiver. If you qualify for both programs, you could go to a qualifying school for free and use the funds from the ETV program to meet other expenses.

Generally, you should be able to receive funds under the ETV program if:

  • You are 16 or 17 and in DFPS foster care and are likely to stay in care until you are 18, OR
  • You are not yet 23, but aged out of DFPS foster care, OR
  • You are not yet 23 and were adopted or entered Permanency Care Assistance from DFPS foster care after turning 16.

ETV is only available to cover the cost of attendance (COA) for your school. The COA usually includes tuition (if not already covered by the tuition and fee waiver), living expenses if you are not in foster care or extended foster care, books, class supplies or materials, or other personal expenses. The amount of funding a student may receive depends on the amount of financial aid already applied to the cost of attendance. If your financial aid meets or exceeds the cost of attendance, you will not be eligible to receive any ETV funds.

If your school’s allowable COA for housing, utilities, food, or personal items is more than what is being provided by your extended foster care placement, you can use ETV funds for those expenses.

If you think your financial aid or cost of attendance was not calculated correctly, you should contact your ETV coordinator, the coordinator’s supervisor, or the DFPS state office transitional living services staff. You can also contact the Texas Foster Youth Justice Project. Young adults in the Supervised Independent Living (SIL) program should not have their SIL support count as financial aid for ETV purposes. If you have been denied ETV benefits but believe you are eligible, you should reapply and follow the steps above if you are denied again.

The website www.texasetv.com has more information about ETV, including eligibility. You can also call the ETV program at (877) 268-4063. There are deadlines to apply for ETV – you must complete the FAFSA and provide other documentation – so you need to start early and get assistance from your PAL staff or transition support case manager.

From time to time, ETV will ask you to provide documents that show you are making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Each school has its own way to measure SAP requirements, which takes into account your grades, your progress toward the requirements of your program, and that you are not above the maximum number of credit hours. The ETV program FIRST pays expenses directly for tuition, housing, and utilities for each semester, as appropriate. If you have already paid those expenses or they are covered by other financial assistance and your tuition and fee waiver, then you can give ETV staff documentation showing that the expenses have been paid. ETV can then release the remaining balance of funds directly to you with a completed Request of Funds Form. Your ETV coordinator can tell you more about this.