FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Fairmont State’s Middle College program, which allows youths in the foster care system to finish their high school diplomas and receive associate’s degrees on campus, is reaching out to more of those in need, as students aged 16-17 living in the surrounding area with foster families, relatives, or guardians can now apply for acceptance.

Middle College aims to reverse the trend of academic instability for students in the state’s foster care system. The program’s dean, Emily Swain, said that the movement caused by foster care placement brings academic detriment with it.

“There’s multiple school placements typically when a child is put in placement. They’re taken out of their home school, or they have to move communities, and that long-term educational instability can be r

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