Conclusion

Ultimately, we need a universal right to early education and adequate public investment to make the child care system work for all, including parenting students. Some states have made progress on expanding child care access, like New Mexico and Vermont. These efforts are promising for parenting students because they address the underlying challenges in the child care infrastructure. Early education advocacy and robust public investment are the keys to solving child care challenges for all families, including student-parent families.

In most states though, child care subsidies are limited and serve few income-eligible families. The themes and recommendations we make in this report reflect the child care system in place now. Colleges cannot solve the child care crisis on their own; it will take robust federal and state investment and policy changes to accomplish that. But colleges have a role to play within the existing child care system and can take steps to improve child care services for parenting students.