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Update: On July 31, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a聽聽that would maintain CCAMPIS funding at current levels.

At a time when federal funding for Medicaid, public broadcasting and food assistance are on the chopping block, the fate of a smaller program has flown under the radar, despite having enormous implications for the population it serves. The (CCAMPIS) program provides a funding stream intended to help student parents complete their degrees by covering or decreasing the cost of child care. The Trump administration鈥檚 for fiscal year 2026, which was submitted to Congress in May, zeroing out funding for the small, yet popular program.

There are more than in the U.S., and roughly half of them have at least one child under the age of 6, according to New America. This population represents more than one in five American undergraduate college students. 

Unsurprisingly, access to affordable child care is a huge challenge for these individuals 鈥� and this obstacle is, in part, why student parents are to drop out of college than students without children. A 2022 report co-published by The Education Trust and Generation Hope, two nonprofits that focus on educational equity, 鈥渢here is no state in which a student parent can work 10 hours a week at the minimum wage and afford both tuition and child care at a public college or university.鈥� 

CCAMPIS, which launched in 1999 and has historically received bipartisan support, has been an important, if insufficient, finger in this dam. The funding, which as of 2025 is , helps around 3,000 students at more than 250 institutions of higher education (IHEs) complete their degrees and move toward a more stable life, according to the Congressional Research Service. And that鈥檚 to say nothing of the positive ripple effects for the broader community. 

The $75 million is distributed as grants to IHEs via an application process. The funding can be used to cover the cost of running (which can provide care for young children and offer before- or after-school care for older kids) or to subsidize the cost of off-campus child care for student parents through . 

The impacts can be life-changing. One student parent who was interviewed by researchers at New America , 鈥渁s a military spouse with no nearby family or built-in support system, I often felt completely alone. This [CCAMPIS program] has changed that. It鈥檚 given me a network. Child care funding has given me the ability to care for myself and work toward a better future for my family, all while knowing my children are in safe, nurturing environments.鈥�

In the context of the , the $75 million for CCAMPIS is small potatoes. It represents a tiny fraction of the nation鈥檚 annual spending. By comparison, the military parade that took place in Washington, D.C. on June 14, was estimated to cost . 

In a more ideal ecosystem of family policy and infrastructure, campus child care would be folded into a broad-based child care system and student parents would have more overall support, but in the absence of a more comprehensive system, CCAMPIS has become an important interim funding stream that, if anything, should be plussed up.

The rationale given in the budget request is wanting at best. The Trump administration 鈥淭he Budget proposes to eliminate CCAMPIS because subsidizing child care for parents in college is unaffordable and duplicative. Funding can instead be secured through the Child Care [and] Development Block Grant. Further, IHEs could offer to accommodate this need among their student population, and many do.鈥� Though the suggested is designated for helping low-income parents afford child care while they鈥檙e working or attending school, this funding is already stretched tissue-paper thin. It only reaches about and several states are under due to underfunding. And most IHE鈥檚, especially community colleges, do not have the reserves to cover the gap.

In recent years, many colleges and universities due to fiscal challenges. One such casualty is the center at Everett Community College outside Seattle. The Seattle Times 鈥渁nger, sadness, and frustration鈥� among the student parents served by the closing center, adding that some parents relied on the center for much more than child care. The story highlighted one mother, Phala Richie: 鈥渟he says she鈥檚 built meaningful relationships at the center, and there鈥檚 resources for parents. Sometimes, at the end of the year, she can鈥檛 afford to buy jackets for her kids, and the center helps families get winter clothes. The center鈥檚 pantry also helps when she鈥檚 running low on food or diapers. Richie has taken budgeting classes and learned how to do CPR.鈥� 

It鈥檚 tempting to suggest that since CCAMPIS serves a relatively small population, it鈥檚 not such a big deal if it鈥檚 eliminated. But this proposal serves as an example of death by a thousand cuts. If the program disappears, it will represent the failure of an institution that everyday people have come to rely on. It will decrease trust in government, making it harder to pick up the pieces again and move toward a stronger, more solidaristic society where everyone can thrive. 

Hopefully, Congress will have enough sense to reject the Trump administration’s proposed cut to CCAMPIS funding and will instead seek out ways to bolster student parents rather than leaving them on an even more precarious ledge.

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