May 18, 2018

Senators Duckworth, Murray Announce New Study to Examine Child Care Challenges Faced by Student Parents in College

Duckworth, Murray: “When student parents do not have access to high-quality child care, student parents may be forced to enroll part-time, making it even more difficult for them to complete their education”

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, announced the Government Accountability Office accepted their request to study challenges student parents face in accessing and completing higher education.

“When student parents do not have access to high-quality child care, student parents may be forced to enroll part-time, making it even more difficult for them to complete their education and find a good paying job that can adequately provide for their families,” the Senators wrote in their initial request.

In August 2017, Senators Duckworth, Murray, and a group of their colleagues introduced the Child Care Access Means in Parents Schools (CCAMPIS) Reauthorization Act, to expand access and increase affordability of on-campus child care for student parents. Nearly 5 million college students in the United States are raising children while they go to school, making up nearly 1 in 4 of all students in higher education. Many of these students fail to graduate and subsequently struggle to repay their student loans, due to the extra burden of child care and supporting their families. In the recent bipartisan spending bill, Republicans and Democrats agreed to more than triple funding for CCAMPIS, a bipartisan step forward to passing the Child Care Access Means in Parents Schools (CCAMPIS) Reauthorization Act.

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