Access to Child Care Declines Across Higher Education

A report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows a decline in child-care services across higher education, and particularly at community colleges.

The percentage of two-year colleges that offer on-campus child-care services fell from 53 percent in 2004 to 46 percent in 2013:

At public four-year colleges, the proportion of campuses with child-care services dropped from 54 percent in 2002 to 51 percent in 2013.

The report, based on 2013 data from the U.S. Education Department’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, notes that, of college students who are parents, almost half are enrolled at community colleges.

“Improving access to child care for students with children would be likely to contribute to increasing college persistence and degree attainment among low-income adults,” the report concludes. “College campuses over all should play a more active role in helping to meet the child-care needs of students with children.”