By Meredith Kolodner

The program was created by Congress in 1998 and greatly expanded in 2001 under President George W. Bush, when funding hit a high-water mark of $25 million. Since 2003, spending has remained fairly steady at about $15 million. It’s not available on every campus and the programs that do exist have waiting lists, but it has served thousands of parents every year. Students who are eligible for Pell grants are also eligible for CCAMPIS.

About 4.8 million, or a quarter of all college students, have children, and 71 percent of student-parents are women, according to recent research by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Advocacy groups like the Young Invincibles have argued that expanding campus-based childcare for low-income families would help boost graduation rates.

Opponents argue that it’s not clear whether the program has helped more parents graduate. Trump’s budget is cutting CCAMPIS along with several other programs because they “duplicate other programs, are more appropriately supported with State, local, institutional, or private funds, are outside of the Department’s core mission, or have not shown evidence of effectiveness.”

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