For the past four years, the Mesa Community College Children’s Center has been providing childcare assistance to students through The Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) grant. With the receipt of $104,578.00 in CCAMPIS grant funding from the US Department of Education, the Center is pleased to announce they will continue supporting student parents this year.
Student parents who receive Pell grants are able to subsidize their child care tuition by enrolling in the CCAMPIS program, reducing the cost they pay for child care. Students typically pay $4 each hour. In comparison, student parents enrolled in CCAMPIS only pay $1 or $1.50 per hour based on their household income.
Kris Bliss, Supervisor of the Early Childhood Center stated, “The majority of our student parents are recipients of the CCAMPIS grant. Many of them wouldn't otherwise be able to afford high-quality child care or continue their education.”
In addition to the tuition subsidy program, a partnership between the MCC Children’s Center and Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton College of Education preschool program provides students a seamless transition between MCC and ASU.
ASU holds a minimum of five spaces in one of their child care facilities for Pell-eligible students who are transferring with their children from the MCC Children’s Center.
Kris explains, “This is extremely helpful for our students who transfer to ASU. Often there is a very long waiting list to get into the child care centers at ASU, but with this program, they don't have to wait.” She adds, “They continue to receive a child care subsidy and the comfort of knowing their children will have the same high quality, accredited child care as they had in our program.”
Mesa Community College students who need childcare assistance are encouraged to enroll in the CCAMPIS program for the upcoming spring semester.
For more information about the MCC Children’s Center please visit ww.mesacc.edu/students/childrens-center.
About Mesa Community College
Mesa Community College provides outstanding transfer and career and technical programs, workforce development, and life-long learning opportunities to residents of the East Valley area of Phoenix, Arizona. MCC excels in teaching, learning and empowering its more than 40,000 students to succeed in a local and global community. Mesa Community College is one of ten colleges that comprise the Maricopa County Community College District.
Please direct media inquiries to Angela Askey at angela.askey@mesacc.edu or Sally Mesarosh at sally.mesarosh@mesacc.edu or the Office of Institutional Advancement at 480-461-7445. IA website: www.mesacc.edu/ia.