Analysis examines the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program

By Justin Nalley and Gabrielle Smith Finnie, Ph.D.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, America’s Black think tank, today published an issue brief, “Black Student Parents’ Access to Affordable Child Care Support at Community Colleges.” The brief examines the availability of the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program at community colleges with an enrollment of at least 40 percent Black students and offers legislative proposals for congressional reauthorization and adequate appropriations for this critical childcare program. The CCAMPIS program is a federal program designed to support student parents with childcare access and expenses. Colleges that receive CCAMPIS grants can use the funding to subsidize childcare costs for Pell Grant-eligible students, support campus-based or community-based childcare programs, provide before or after-school childcare services, or provide student support like financial and career counseling.

“Receiving access to higher education can significantly increase income, skill development, employment opportunities, and much more, all critical factors that can help Black student parents achieve their goals and secure access to family-sustaining wages,” said co-author Joint Center Senior Policy Analyst, Workforce Policy Justin Nalley. “Black students are more likely to be parents than other racial groups at both community colleges and four-year institutions and the costs of pursuing postsecondary education and for childcare are particularly burdensome for student parents. The need to enhance the CCAMPIS program for Black student parents is more prevalent than ever, particularly when Congress reauthorizes the Higher Education Act.” The research found that community colleges with substantial Black student populations were underrepresented among CCAMPIS recipients. Nationally, 13 percent of community colleges have at least 40 percent Black enrollment. The share of community college CCAMPIS recipients with Black enrollment above 40 percent fluctuated minimally between five percent to seven percent during the 2017–2022 period, well below the 13 percent representation rate.

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Co-author Joint Center Policy Analyst, Workforce Policy Dr. Gabrielle Smith Finnie, said, “According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Black student parents account for 30 percent of undergraduate student parents, but only 15 percent of CCAMPIS participants were Black. Strengthening CCAMPIS could help increase retention and completion rates for Black student parents and boost overall economic growth.”

The following policy recommendations offer ways to enhance CCAMPIS to support Black student parents:

• Increase CCAMPIS program appropriations: Congressional appropriations for CCAMPIS were $50 million in the academic year 2018–19, $65 million in the academic year 2021-22, and $75 million in the academic year 2023–24. This growth is meaningful but should be increased. The Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $80 million for the academic year 2025–26. Other CCAMPIS expansion proposals have called for as much as $250 million in annual appropriations for the program to adequately meet student-parent needs. An increase in CCAMPIS appropriations should raise grantee funding, fully cover out-of-pocket childcare expenses for student-parent participants, and reach more program participants.
• Collect federal data on students’ parenting status: Black student parents are often a hidden population due to the lack of federal data collection on students’ parenting status. Congress should pass a version of the Understanding Student Parent Outcomes Act of 2023 to improve data collection for student parents in higher education. The bill would expand IPEDS data collection to include variables such as the number of students identifying as parents, their enrollment status, and median income. If passed, the law would require a study on the best practices to improve outcomes for student parents at higher education institutions, including enrollment trends for the availability of campus-based childcare services, including CCAMPIS grants. The bill also would require that findings be disaggregated by race and ethnicity, reported to Congress, and made publicly available.

Produce publicly available, racially disaggregated CCAMPIS performance reports: CCAMPIS grants report data on the population served, campus and community resources used to help low-income students access childcare services, progress on childcare facility accreditation, and grant impact on the quality, availability, and affordability of campus-based childcare services. The U.S. Department of Education quantifies CCAMPIS’s success by measuring postsecondary persistence and degree completion rates. The CCAMPIS program should disaggregate participant enrollment and outcomes by race and ethnicity to the extent feasible to protect student privacy. This would allow the U.S. Department of Education and college leadership to determine whether the program reaches and supports Black student parents. Publicly available reports will enhance the transparency of the CCAMPIS program and its participants.

Conduct an equity analysis of CCAMPIS awardees: The U.S. Department of Education should build upon this study and conduct an equity analysis of past CCAMPIS awardees to uncover potential inequities and ensure that the share of CCAMPIS community college grantees with substantial Black student enrollment is proportionate to their representation in the larger community college population.  The CCAMPIS grant process strongly relies on student-parent data, which is difficult to collect. The proposed equity analysis could review the application process and scoring procedures, outreach and notification processes, funding distribution, and enrollment demographics and outcomes of CCAMPIS awardee institutions.

Remove limitations to federal childcare and basic needs support: The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is a federal-state partnership program that subsidizes low-income families’ participation in work-related education and training programs by making childcare services available through vouchers, direct family benefits, and provider contracts. CCDF allows states to design income and eligibility requirements for families to receive childcare assistance. States may allow higher education participation as an eligibility criterion, but many states have restrictions on how long education and job training can count for eligibility. To decrease barriers and support student parents, states should allow education and training to count for working hours and extend or remove time limits on how long parents can pursue an education or job training program.

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