CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act
Congress Proposes $500 Million Yearly to Expand Child Care for Low-Income College Students
Stalled
No legislative action in over 90 days.
Legislative Progress
Key Points
- This bill would provide $500 million every year from 2026 to 2031 to help colleges offer child care for students who are also parents. Schools could use the money to run their own on-campus daycares or give students discounts on child care costs through a sliding fee scale based on what they can afford.
- To qualify for help, a student must be a parent or guardian of a dependent child and meet certain financial needs, such as being eligible for a Pell Grant. The bill specifically includes graduate students and prevents schools from adding extra rules, like work requirements, for students to get this child care assistance.
- The goal is to help more parents finish their degrees by removing the barrier of expensive child care. Any daycare program receiving these funds would have to meet high-quality standards, such as being in the top tier of their state's rating system or meeting federal Head Start standards within three years of receiving the grant.
- Colleges would receive between $75,000 and $2 million per year for five years. In exchange, they must report back on how many student parents are graduating, staying in school, or transferring, while ensuring no student is discriminated against based on race, religion, gender identity, or disability.
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
Life & Work
The bill includes a strong nondiscrimination provision that specifically protects people on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex stereotypes in any program funded by these grants. This ensures LGBTQ+ student parents cannot be turned away from campus child care services or treated differently because of who they are.
Programs
Milestones
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
4 articlesFor student parents, federal child care funding hangs in the balance
The CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act seeks to expand funding to $500 million to help the 1 in 5 undergraduates who are parents. While the Senate maintains current levels, the House version of the spending bill aligns with the administration's proposal to zero out the program entirely.
A federal program helped student-parents thrive. Now it's on life support
Lawmakers are pushing to increase CCAMPIS funding from $75 million to $500 million. Despite bipartisan interest in the past, the program faces elimination in the current budget cycle, leaving colleges and student parents in a state of uncertainty regarding future child care subsidies.
Community colleges adjust amid funding uncertainties under Trump administration
Local colleges are bracing for the loss of CCAMPIS grants as the administration targets 'niche' programs. The CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act, introduced in September, remains in committee as a potential solution to maintain on-campus child care for Pell-eligible students.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
CCAMPIS Reauthorization Act
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
(17)Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.