Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) 2026 | ED GRANT 26 053

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANT 26 053

Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) 2026 is a discretionary federal grant program run by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, designed to help low-income student parents stay enrolled and succeed in college by expanding access to reliable child care. The core idea of CCAMPIS is that parenting students often face major barriers to completing a credential, and affordable child care is one of the biggest. Through this program, institutions can use federal funds to build, expand, or sustain campus-based child care services that primarily meet the needs of low-income students enrolled at the school, helping them attend classes, participate in required academic activities, and persist toward graduation.

The grants are competitively awarded and support projects for a four-year period. A key feature of the competition is that priority is given to proposals for child care programs that do two things well: first, they leverage significant local or institutional resources (for example, campus funds, state or local support, philanthropic contributions, partnerships, or in-kind resources that strengthen capacity beyond the federal award), and second, they use a sliding fee scale so that families with the lowest incomes pay the least. This emphasis signals that the Department is looking for projects that both maximize impact through broader resource support and keep services genuinely affordable for low-income student parents.

Funding can be used to establish a new campus-based child care program or to support and improve an existing one, as long as the services are primarily aimed at students from low-income backgrounds at the applicant institution. In addition to direct child care services, the program also allows funding for before- and after-class care and other supportive services when those services are necessary to help low-income students pursue postsecondary education. That flexibility matters because parenting students often need coverage outside standard child care hours, especially when class schedules, labs, clinicals, evening courses, or commuting constraints do not align neatly with typical operating times.

Eligibility is limited to institutions of higher education as defined in sections 101 and 102 of the Higher Education Act. For this 2026 competition, an additional threshold applies: the institution must have awarded a total of 250,000 dollars or more in Federal Pell Grant funds during fiscal year 2025 to students enrolled at the institution. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and other qualifying institutions that meet the HEA definition and the Pell Grant threshold. This eligibility design effectively targets institutions that serve a meaningful population of low-income students, since Pell awards are commonly used as a proxy for financial need.

Administrative details from the opportunity listing include the Assistance Listing (CFDA) number 84.335A and the funding opportunity number ED GRANT 26 053. The award ceiling is listed as 1,000,000 dollars, indicating the maximum expected amount per award under this opportunity. The Department anticipates making about 148 awards. The opportunity was created on 2026-04-20, and the original closing date for applications is 2026-05-29. Overall, CCAMPIS 2026 is structured as a capacity-building and direct-service grant that encourages institutions to combine federal support with strong local commitment, with the practical aim of making child care access a bridge to enrollment, persistence, and completion for low-income student parents.

• The Office of Postsecondary Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) 2026" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.335.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2026-04-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-05-29. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 148 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for ED GRANT 26 053

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