A $2.3 million four-year federal CCAMPIS grant funding childcare for student parents previously received by ETSU will not be renewed, the university learned Oct. 1. The Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant is administered by the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services and allowed ETSU to help subsidize childcare costs for parents seeking a degree.
“[The grant] allowed us so much additional funding to be able to help students,” Michelle Byrd, dean of students, said. “We were able to set up several contracts with outside childcare agencies and help many students have their childcare subsidized.”
Childcare presents a significant financial burden for student parents, with local costs averaging $300 per week per child according to Byrd. Under this award, 28 ETSU students were able to receive childcare support. Other funds from the university support another three.
This application cycle, the university was requesting $1,800,000, $500,000 less than the current award. The application was still rejected, and the Department of Education gave no reason for the decision.
Despite the lack of explanation given by the department, Byrd mentioned the ratio of four-year universities to community colleges selected to receive the grant this year. Around half of the 40 grantees are community colleges or technical schools, despite there being more than twice as many accredited four-year institutions as two-year institutions in the United States.
“We didn’t do anything wrong,” Byrd said. “The Department of Education and the Department of Human Services trimmed down the number of awardees from 148 to 40 nationwide.”
In 2022, when ETSU last received the CCAMPIS grant, 301 schools were selected to receive a total sum of over $82 million. This year, according to documents on the official U.S. Department of Education website, the 40 grantees are receiving a total sum of $18,213,794.
“ETSU is hugely supportive of student parents. So, right now we’ve identified some one-time funds that would help us continue to support these students at the same level of subsidies that they’ve been getting for the remainder of this academic year,” Byrd said.
The 28 ETSU students who relied on CCAMPIS funds will be supported under these one-time funds this academic year, but future funding for childcare subsidies at ETSU is not guaranteed.
“Leading up to next academic year, we’re going to have to look and probably make some difficult decisions on what we’re going to do,” Byrd said.
