How Anticipated CCAMPIS Cuts Would Impact Parenting Students
Credit: BRYAN DOZIER / AFP / Getty Images- CCAMPIS grants allow colleges and universities to provide childcare for parenting students.
- Studies show that these grants often lead to higher graduation rates.
- Advocates anticipate cuts to the CCAMPIS program shortly.
- Experts warn about the potential downstream effects of cutting this program.
Budget cuts could make degree attainment more difficult for thousands of college students with dependent children.
Student advocacy groups, including The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), are bracing for potential cuts to the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program. This grant program assigns funds to colleges and universities to provide childcare for low- and middle-income parenting college students.
Carrie Welton, senior director of policy and advocacy at TICAS, told BestColleges she’s anticipating CCAMPIS cuts, although the extent of those cuts remains unknown.
“I think CCAMPIS is going to be one of those things that’s going to be thrown out to make room for tax cuts,” she said. “That directly affects the ability for parents to enroll or persist.”
In 2018, $55 million in CCAMPIS funding helped approximately 11,000 college students pay for child care, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Even so, that was a small percentage of the estimated 1.8 million parenting students who qualified for the program at the time, Welton said.
Congress allocated $75 million for CCAMPIS in 2023.
Brittani Williams, director of advocacy policy and research at Generation Hope, stressed that childcare costs are often the primary financial barrier preventing students from graduating.
“The funding is integral to degree completion,” Williams said.
CCAMPIS Cuts Anticipated
Welton said advocates should look no further than 2024 to see that CCAMPIS could be on the budget chopping block.
The House Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies called for eliminating the CCAMPIS program in its 2025 budget request. Whereas CCAMPIS was once a program with bipartisan support, that may no longer be the case, Welton said.
“We do anticipate that this proposal may return this year,” she said.
CCAMPIS has maintained its funding over the past year through stopgap funding measures.
However, Congress is gearing up to make sweeping budget cuts to accommodate President Donald Trump’s tax proposals. A budget resolution in early 2025 called on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce to find at least $330 billion in cuts over the next 10 years.
A more recent resolution passed in both the House and Senate called for about $4 billion in spending cuts over a decade, although lawmakers expect more expansive budget slashing.
Potential Impact of CCAMPIS Cuts
Williams said CCAMPIS meets a need that colleges and universities aren’t meeting independently.
She stressed that the federal government directs CCAMPIS funds to institutions that enroll a higher percentage of Pell Grant recipients. This includes many community colleges and minority-serving institutions (MSIs), which often lack the coffers of flagship public universities and Ivy League institutions with large endowments.
Williams said CCAMPIS often allows institutions to provide childcare services they otherwise would not be able — or willing — to provide themselves.
“I sit amongst many institutions that are facilitating the grant,” she said, “so I can tell you from what I’ve been hearing is that it is very effective.”
Welton added that well-off institutions may be able to pick up the slack if CCAMPIS funding is cut.
However, colleges and universities that enroll a high percentage of Pell Grant recipients may have to cut campus programs altogether. Support for parenting students may also vary wildly depending on states, she said, as a state like California may have more flexibility to fill this need.
Welton stressed that other cuts to federal higher education programs may tighten the budgets of many institutions in the U.S.
Whereas a well-off university may typically be able to provide childcare to parenting students on its own dime, if the federal government continues to cut unrelated research grants and other funding, administrators may have to direct surplus funds away from childcare services.
In 2023, the Department of Education (ED) awarded approximately $83.7 million in CCAMPIS grants.
Grantees included a healthy mix of community colleges and four-year universities. However, data shows that the largest awards tended to go to prominent universities, while awards of less than $350,000 largely went to community colleges and technical colleges.
| Institution | State | Type | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State University | Florida | Public four-year university | $1,353,400 |
| University of Central Florida | Florida | Public four-year university | $1,224,810 |
| Michigan State University | Michigan | Public four-year university | $1,096,847 |
| University of New Mexico | New Mexico | Public four-year university | $1,004,592 |
| Austin Community College | Texas | Public community college | $1,000,000 |
| University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | Texas | Public four-year university | $997,997 |
| University of California, Riverside | California | Public four-year university | $955,799 |
| Utah Valley University | Utah | Public four-year university | $936,119 |
| California State University, San Bernardino | California | Public four-year university | $918,453 |
| University of California, Davis | California | Public four-year university | $916,466 |
A 2022 EdTrust report found that approximately 42% of parenting students attend public community colleges, compared to 17% who attend a public four-year university.
Downstream Effects
Williams and Welton agreed that the ultimate effect of a decrease in CCAMPIS funds could result in parenting students dropping out at higher rates.
That’s often due to the high out-of-pocket costs associated with childcare.
A January 2020 report from California Competes found that a single, low-income California student parent’s average cost of college is 34% greater than that of a nonparenting student. Parenting students pay $7,592 more each year than nonparenting students.
EdTrust found that the District of Columbia has the biggest affordability gap for center-based childcare, while Florida has the smallest gap.
A 2022 survey from Generation Hope found that childcare responsibilities often interfere with a student’s academics.
Approximately 15% of respondents said parenting responsibilities cause them to “frequently” miss class, while another 35% said it causes them to “occasionally” miss class. Just 20% said caregiving responsibilities “rarely” or “never” interfere with their ability to work on course assignments or homework.
Welton said that if she had the opportunity to speak with lawmakers to advocate for CCAMPIS funds, she would stress the program’s economic impact.
“Cutting CCAMPIS or any programming for public benefit undermines the exact goals Republicans are trying to achieve,” she said, “which is to get people off of public benefits.”
Generation Hope found that annual earnings more than doubled for teen parents after earning a college degree. A 2013 study at Monroe Community College found that parenting students who utilized a campus childcare center were nearly three times more likely to graduate or transfer to a four-year institution within three years of enrollment.