Indiana University of Pennsylvania has received $2 million to support student-parents through the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program.
The grant, which will fund the CCAMPIS program through the 2029-2030 academic year, is issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education.
IUP was one of only two institutions in Pennsylvania, and one of only 40 institutions in the nation that successfully secured this funding. CCAMPIS provides parenting support, financial support with childcare costs, social support, and referrals to beneficial resources for student-parents in IUP’s program.
Dr. Kalani Palmer, a professor in IUP’s Department of Professional Studies in Education is the principal investigator and director of IUP’s CCAMPIS program. University College Director of Student Success Data and Operations Tiffany Potts and Dr. Sarah Brown, an associate professor in the Counseling and Human Development Program, are grant co-investigators and working with Dr. Palmer on the CCAMPIS program.
The primary campus partners for the grant include the Professional Studies in Education Department, the Department of Counseling and Human Development, and the University College. CCAMPIS leaders also will work with community agencies including Women, Infants and Children, the Child Care Works program, Early Head Start, Head Start, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and the Indiana County United Way.
With this funding, IUP’s CCAMPIS program intends to support between 40 to 50 student-parents each year. IUP has about 300 parenting students, around 133 of them in undergraduate programs.
Applications for the program will open this fall semester and the CCAMPIS program will begin enrolling students this semester.
This grant is part of IUP’s Impact 150 comprehensive fundraising campaign, the largest campaign in the history of the university. The campaign is named in honor of the university’s sesquicentennial celebration, celebrated during the 2025-2026 academic year.
“I congratulate and thank Dr. Palmer, Dr. Brown, and Mrs. Potts for all of their work in securing this important funding for our student-parents,” IUP President Dr. Michael Driscoll said. “This program is another example of our university-wide commitment to removing barriers to student success,” he said.
“Parenting students are balancing the demands of college and work while also caring for their family,” Dr. Palmer said. “We want them to know that we value them, we want them at IUP, and they do not have to navigate those challenges alone. Our goal is to create a community and campus culture where parenting students and their families can thrive.”
Every student in every program and at every level at IUP is paired with a Navigator, a full-time staff member who provides proactive support as part of IUP’s Student Success Infrastructure. Through the CCAMPIS program, student-parents will be supported by a Parenting Student Navigator, Laura Jones, who will receive specialized training through the grant. Potts, who directs the IUP Navigators in her role in the University College, will work closely with Jones and help with student-parent recruitment.
Jones will be the CCAMPIS student-parents’ primary point of contact, providing individualized guidance and support related to academic scheduling, financial concerns, time management, competing priorities, parenting accommodations (e.g., Title IX), as well as connections to campus and community resources.
“In the immediate short term, our goal is to make sure that CCAMPIS students are aware of the university resources available to them so that they can persist in their studies,” Dr. Palmer said. “Ultimately, understanding that parenting students face unique challenges that could delay completing their studies, our goal is to have 80 percent of our CCAMPIS student-parents graduate within 200 percent of the expected program length.”
A 2025 report from The Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children found early childcare and education is in a “critical crisis,” and local data shows waiting lists for childcare providers in Indiana County. Student-parents in the CCAMPIS program are required to use licensed daycare facilities.
Because of the shortage of licensed childcare providers in the area, the CCAMPIS funding also will be used to help to address this critical need by hiring an Early Care and Education Support Specialist to help childcare providers who want to become licensed centers. Dr. Brown will serve in this role and work with area childcare providers that want to become licensed.
Students in IUP’s Human Development and Family Science, Early Childhood Education, and in certificate programs in infant-toddler development and in preschool education, are routinely placed in community childcare centers as part of their coursework and are expected to prepare materials for parents and families. These students will be part of the CCAMPIS program by developing this information into a newsletter for the CCAMPIS student-parents.
Any student-parent who is in an undergraduate or master’s degree program enrolled in at least six credits of study and who meets Pell Grant income requirements or receives a federal low-income benefit (e.g., WIC), can apply for the CCAMPIS program.
Priority for acceptance into the program will be given to students who are close to graduating, and priority status also will be given to student-parents with children between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years. Childcare funding support offered through CCAMPIS will be given on a sliding scale to maximize the number of participants.
IUP received funding and operated its CCAMPIS program from 2017-2018 academic year through the 2024-2025 academic year; funding was unavailable during the 2025-2026 academic year.
During the time that the program was in operation at IUP, 74 student-parents were part of CCAMPIS. From year one to year eight, 92 percent of student-parents graduated or persisted in their studies. The CCAMPIS program also had a waiting list.
“This is a great success rate, and our parenting students tell us that CCAMPIS has been instrumental in helping them persist at IUP,” Dr. Palmer said. “We are very grateful for this new funding and for the assistance it will provide to our students.”
“Based on our previous experience with the program, we know that there is a need for CCAMPIS at IUP, and the student-parents that enrolled in the program demonstrated success,” Dr. Palmer said. “We are so happy to receive this grant funding and deeply appreciate the Congressional leaders and the staff at the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Their leadership and service help make this support possible.”
IUP has a long tradition of supporting early care and education for employees and for students; since 1926, IUP has supported and maintained a childcare facility on campus operated through the Indiana County Child Day Care Program. The current campus-based childcare program, operated by an independent entity, receives financial support from the university in exchange for the reservation of childcare spaces for IUP staff, faculty, and parent-students.
IUP also has several resources in place that are supportive of parenting students, including support through the IUP Office of Social Equity/Title IX for parent-students who need specific accommodations, and a case worker that assists students with identifying, applying for, and receiving supportive services.