Lincoln Land Community College is receiving special federal funds to help low-income parent-students stay in school.
U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin announced on Thursday last week that LLCC would receive $78,400 through the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program through the U.S. Department of Education.
The funding provides low-income student parents with campus-based child care services so they can continue to complete their degrees.
Duckworth said in a press release on Thursday that the funding is vitally important due to the nation’s shrinking child care options. According to statistics, in 2017, only 42% of community colleges nationwide offered on-campus childcare options, down from 53% in 2003. Access to on-campus child care declined from 54 to 48 percent at four-year institutions over that same timeframe.
Duckworth re-introduced legislation in the Senate last month a bill that she brought while she was a member of the House that would provide federal money to fully fund on-campus child care services. The bill currently sits in the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.