The announcement also included more than $75 million in additional grants to support underserved postsecondary students.
The Biden-Harris administration announced on October 12, 2023 the commencement of a funding program with a total value of over $13 million to enhance the provision of high-quality, on-campus childcare services at a total of 34 different schools and universities. These programs are aimed specifically at the student parents of households with low incomes. Miguel Cardona, the Secretary of Education for the United States, has articulated his objective as "bringing the American Dream within reach for families across America." Because these persons are pursuing higher education in order to advance in their careers, the funding is intended to provide assistance to institutions in the improvement of parental student services.
More than twenty percent of students engaged in postsecondary education are also parents, and nearly half of these student parents who are enrolled in postsecondary education are attending 2-year colleges. According to the announcement made by the Department of Education, high-quality child care is beneficial not only to children but also to their parents since it enables the latter to dedicate more time to their academics, which in turn may boost the former's future earnings and contributions to the economy.
The United States Department of Education has made history by announcing that grantees of the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program are actively encouraged to suggest changes to the quality of the services that they provide. This is a first of its kind announcement. It has been found to have a favorable influence on both the staff retention rate as well as the growth of the children who are under the care of child care experts when greater salaries are offered to child care professionals. 26 out of the 34 organizations that were awarded financing have stated their intention to work on the aforementioned top priority.
The subsidies cover a wider range of expenses than just those associated with child care. Nearly $6 million was distributed to 16 Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions through the Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) Part A grant program. Both the GEAR UP state grant program and the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) granted more than $46 million to 107 institutions. The GEAR UP state grant program gave an additional $23 million to six states.
