Student parent hub.You can raise a child and finish.

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1. Ask financial aid to count childcare. Federal aid lets your school add dependent care to your cost of attendance. A bigger cost of attendance can mean more aid. Use the letter below.
2. Ask about campus childcare. Fewer colleges have it than used to (53% in 2004, 22% in 2015), so ask early. Parents who used campus childcare at one community college stayed in school at 68%, against 51% of those who didn’t.
3. Apply for state childcare help, WIC and Head Start. They’re separate programs, so apply to each.
4. Know your rights. Pregnancy and parenting are protected in school.

Ask financial aid to add childcare

Your cost of attendance is the budget your aid is built on. For students paying for childcare, schools can add a dependent care allowance and use “professional judgment” to adjust your aid. Most students never ask.

Your letter

Subject: Request: add dependent care to my cost of attendance

Keep your childcare receipts or ask your provider for a letter with the weekly cost. Nothing is sent from this page; what you type stays in this browser.

Childcare and help for your family

Campus childcare and CCAMPIS

The federal Child Care Access Means Parents In School program (CCAMPIS) gives colleges grants to help student parents pay for campus childcare. Ask your financial aid office or dean of students: “Does our school have CCAMPIS or a campus childcare center?” Some schools use it for reduced-cost care or a spot on a waitlist.

State childcare help

Every state helps families with low incomes pay for childcare, and in many states going to school counts as a reason to qualify. Find your state’s program at childcare.gov.

WIC

Food, formula and nutrition help for pregnant women, new moms and children under 5. Being a student doesn’t stop you. WIC from the USDA.

Head Start and Early Head Start

Free early learning and care for children from birth to 5 in families with low incomes. Find a Head Start center near you.

Food and more

Caring for a young child can open SNAP to a college student, but the rules changed in 2025, so check with your state. See benefits in the Kit and money you’re owed at tax time.

Your rights as a pregnant or parenting student

Under Title IX, a school that gets federal money can’t treat you differently because you’re pregnant, gave birth, or are recovering. In general, your school must excuse absences for pregnancy and childbirth for as long as your doctor says they’re medically necessary, and let you come back to the same standing you had before.

1. Tell your school’s Title IX Coordinator. They can help arrange time off, make-up work and changes like a bigger desk or breaks to pump.
2. Get it in writing. Ask for what’s agreed by email, and keep your doctor’s notes.
3. Need it to stay private from your professor? Talk to My Professor writes an email that never says why.

General information, not legal advice. More from the Office for Civil Rights.

You’re not the only one

Generation Hope works with teen and student parents in a few cities (DC, Greater New Orleans, Dallas–Fort Worth) with tuition help, a mentor, a peer community and an emergency fund. Even if you’re somewhere else, it shows what to look for: ask your school whether it has a student parent group or center.

My week

Hours for class and study, work, and the childcare you have. It shows the hours you still need someone to watch your child.

Your hours are covered on paper. Keep a backup person in mind for sick days.