Sponsors (9)
Introduced September 18, 2025 by Katherine M. Clark · Last progress September 18, 2025
The bill expands subsidized campus child care and related supports to help student parents enroll and graduate by providing predictable federal funding, but it excludes some small/rural campuses, restricts funding uses and scale, adds administrative requirements, and increases taxpayer costs.
Student parents across eligible campuses receive subsidized child care (campus-based or contracted), lowering out-of-pocket child care costs and making it easier to enroll in and complete postsecondary education.
Colleges and universities can establish or expand on-campus child care capacity, reducing local waitlists and increasing access to timely child care for student parents within a few years when quality benchmarks are met.
Student parents are more likely to remain enrolled and graduate because grant-funded child care is tied to retention/graduation reporting and supports that link services to student success.
Small or rural institutions that fall below the 150-Pell student threshold are ineligible for grants, leaving student parents at those campuses without access to this federal support.
Grants cannot be used for new construction (only limited renovation), which constrains the ability of campuses without existing child care space to create new on-campus facilities.
Annual grant size caps ($2M) and funding-dependent minimums may prevent large institutions with high demand from securing enough funds to meet student need at scale.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Replaces an HEA provision to authorize competitive grants (five-year awards, $75K–$2M/year) for colleges to provide or subsidize child care for student parents.
Creates a competitive federal grant program that gives colleges and universities money to provide or subsidize child care for students who are parents. Grants run up to five years, pay annually, and range from $75,000 to $2,000,000 per year; institutions with at least 150 Pell-eligible students (or consortia of such institutions) are eligible to apply. Grant funds may be used for campus-based child care, sliding-fee subsidized child care, and before- and after-school services, plus related support and quality improvements; funds cannot be used for new building construction (only renovation or safety repairs) or to add extra eligibility rules for student parents. Continuation awards depend on program reporting and a federal determination that the school is making a good-faith effort to provide affordable, quality child care.