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Maimouna (pronounced “my-mona”) dreams of becoming a nurse. She describes herself as someone who loves taking care of people and who wants to be able to help those who are suffering. Her dream was inspired, in part, by her parents’ deaths and their lack of access to quality medical care.

Maimouna is nearly halfway through her nursing program at Pima Community College in Arizona, where she’s completed two semesters and expects to finish in three more. Arizona faces the in the country, so Maimouna has chosen a path that aligns with her community’s needs, not just her own dreams.

When Maimouna decided to enroll in the nursing program, the first thing she did was search the college’s website for the word ‘daycare.’

She found information on the college’s (CCAMPIS) grant and connected with Julie, the program manager.

“When my family was accepted to their child care program, I was crying because I was so happy. There’s no way I could do it without child care,” Maimouna told me. The college used CCAMPIS funds to help pay for Maimouna’s then 2-year-old son to attend a high-quality child care program off campus.

CCAMPIS is a competitive federal grant program that enables grantee colleges and universities to subsidize high-quality child care for low-income student parents. Grants are awarded for four-year cycles, and colleges use funds to help student parents access child care, either on campus or in the community.

Maimouna started her nursing program in the fall of 2024, but by spring, the college informed her that they wouldn’t be able to continue subsidizing child care for her in the next academic year.

Pima Community College received over federal fiscal years 2022-2025. But the Department of Education didn’t open a grant application round for colleges to apply for the program in either 2024 or 2025, despite Congressional appropriations in the amount of $75 million. That means colleges that were in their last year of the four-year cycle in either 2024 or 2025 couldn’t apply for additional funding to keep supporting student parents with child care access and costs.

When Maimouna found out that the college could no longer help her pay for child care, she knew she needed to find a way to keep her son in the same center. “He’s so happy there, learning so much,” Maimouna told me.

Maimouna wasn’t enrolled in classes in the fall of 2025, nor is she now. She picked up more than 40 hours a week of work as a senior helper for a private caregiving company to help pay for her 3-year-old’s care. Maimouna’s husband works as a DoorDasher, and her family relies on his income to pay their bills, but there isn’t enough left for child care.

Maimouna and her husband wanted to keep her son’s care consistent and didn’t want to risk losing his spot when she goes back to school. She told me she plans to save up to afford care for future semesters, but right now, nearly all of her income is going to pay for child care.

Maimouna studied hard in her nursing program, and the peace of mind and time that her son’s child care program afforded her is what enabled her to do so. I asked Maimouna whether she planned to go back to school while working full-time to afford her son’s care.

“If I have to work that much, I won’t be able to do it. The way I’m working, there’s no way I can study. A lot of people [in my nursing program] are ace-ing their classes, because they can sit at home and study. But you can’t do that if you have to work full-time plus parenting.”

After letting her know that the college couldn’t subsidize child care for her anymore, staff helped Maimouna explore the state’s child care subsidy program as an alternative route to paying for care. But as of November, the program had a in Arizona. Maimouna doesn’t expect to get help from the program anytime soon.

Maimouna has three semesters to go to finish her nursing program, but it’s unclear exactly when or how she’ll finish them without help paying for child care so she can have the support she needs for classes and study time.

Maimouna looks forward to finishing her degree to achieve her dream of becoming a nurse and caring for others in their most difficult moments. But she’s also eager to support her son in school as he gets older. “I’ll be able to show him a good way,” she said, “when he needs support, I’ll be here. I’ll make enough money and teach him how to take care of himself.”

While the Senate intended to in the fall of 2025, the House advanced an that would eliminate funding for the program, in line with the President’s . At that point, Congress did not pass a full budget, but instead passed a continuing resolution which expires on January 30. Advocates and child care program administrators are waiting to see what lands in the final appropriations bill as Congress works toward averting a partial government shutdown at the end of this month.

Even with level funding, it remains to be seen whether Health and Human Services, which recently absorbed some of the programmatic oversight of CCAMPIS from the Department of Education, has the capacity to open and administer a grant application round this year.

For student parents, program administration questions translate into something much more personal. When I asked Maimouna what it means for her to have child care help while working towards her degree, she didn’t answer about herself or her family. Instead, she pointed to other student parents.

“There are people like me who really don’t have enough help. But they want to go back to school to do something for their life, or something for their kids. And they just don’t have the opportunity. But giving that support, to say, OK, you’re a Mom. You want to go back to school. We’re giving you support to do it. Tomorrow, you’ll be able to take care of yourself, your kid, your whole family.”

*Update as of January 20, 2026: Maimouna's college partnered with a local nonprofit that agreed to pay for her child care expenses for the January 2026 semester. She is enrolled in classes again with that support. However, this is one-time, one-semester support. Without an opportunity for her college to apply for additional CCAMPIS funds, and with her state's long waitlist for child care subsidies, it is unclear how Maimouna will finance her child care for her remaining time in school after the current semester.