AbstractThis article explores the attitude toward school and academic competency of young people who decide to run away from home. A two-group design was used with 26 runaway and 23 nonrunaway youths. Academic competency was measured using questions from a standardized achievement test. The runaway youths had lower academic scores and higher child protective services involvement. No difference was found in attitudes toward school between the two groups. Findings suggest that family factors have an impact on runaway youths' school performance.