Just a few weeks before fall quarter, administrators at Clover Park Technical College got a notice from the Department of Education that said the government was discontinuing the college’s funding for the federal Child Care Access Means Parents in School program.
About 15 to 20 students at Clover Park benefit from this funding every year, said Dean Kelly, the vice president of student success at the college. According to Child Care Aware of Washington, the median monthly cost of childcare, depending on age, ranged from $400 to $1,600 in Pierce County in 2023.
“Some students just can't afford that without the help,” Kelly said. “And so they may need to drop out.”
The college was set to get about $100,00 every year of the grant period. Kelly said it is unusual that the funding was cut during the grant period.
The notice said the college’s grant application from 2023 didn’t align with the administration’s priorities. The letter, Kelly said, specifically pointed to some of the training the college does to serve diverse populations as the reason why funding was discontinued.
That’s difficult for the college because Clover Park received the grant under the Biden administration, during which time the grant application specifically asked applicants to highlight these priorities, Kelly said.
“Those priorities were really around professional development of the teachers to make sure that curriculum was culturally responsive, that no matter what background you came from, that you were well taken care of in the classroom,” he said.
These priorities are important to Clover Park, Kelly said. The grant funding supported things like training on how to work with students with learning disabilities.
“The other thing that I think is disappointing about that letter, is there was no opportunity to respond to the current administration’s priorities,” Kelly said.
The Trump administration is working to roll back federal funding from organizations that use diversity, equity and inclusion language.
This all means that come Oct. 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year, the college won’t have the funding. The college will be trying to help parents find other ways to pay for childcare.
The college was set to get about $100,00 every year of the grant period. Kelly said it is unusual that the funding was cut during the grant period.
The notice said the college’s grant application from 2023 didn’t align with the administration’s priorities. The letter, Kelly said, specifically pointed to some of the training the college does to serve diverse populations as the reason why funding was discontinued.
That’s difficult for the college because Clover Park received the grant under the Biden administration, during which time the grant application specifically asked applicants to highlight these priorities, Kelly said.
“Those priorities were really around professional development of the teachers to make sure that curriculum was culturally responsive, that no matter what background you came from, that you were well taken care of in the classroom,” he said.
These priorities are important to Clover Park, Kelly said. The grant funding supported things like training on how to work with students with learning disabilities.
“The other thing that I think is disappointing about that letter, is there was no opportunity to respond to the current administration’s priorities,” Kelly said.
The Trump administration is working to roll back federal funding from organizations that use diversity, equity and inclusion language.
This all means that come Oct. 1, the beginning of the federal fiscal year, the college won’t have the funding. The college will be trying to help parents find other ways to pay for childcare.
Affected colleges appear to be caught up in the fallout of the Trump administration’s attempts to cut government spending, which include ending some grants, and conditioning others on institutions agreeing to executive orders.
“The reality is that if those funds don’t come through, we won’t be able to sustain those programs,” said Julie White, the chancellor and CEO of Pierce College.
Specifically, Washington colleges haven’t received funding through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, or Adult Basic Education funding, which was slated to be cut but then was renewed.
Carl Perkins funding helps career and technical colleges innovate curriculum to keep up with industry demands. The Department of Education notice came late and with significant changes in order to receive the funds. The state is reviewing the new requirements and therefore has not distributed the funds to colleges yet.
For Pierce College, the anticipated funding award is about $300,000 for basic education and $500,000 for Perkins. The college’s total operating budget is $90 million. To pay for the services that federal funding would have covered, the college has been tapping into its reserves, which White said rarely happens.
“We do expect to receive them, but that funding has been delayed,” White said.
At Pierce, Perkins funding goes toward programs from nursing and dental hygiene to emergency medical services and emergency management. The dollars help sustain tutoring services and without federal funds, White said, the programs could only be sustained for a year or two.
“All of that helps make sure that [students] can be successful and then get out to the workforce to serve our communities,” White said.
In regard to whether the additional language about complying with executive orders would impact any of Pierce’s programs or ability to provide some services, White said the college has relied on legal counsel’s advice and doesn’t believe that to be the case.
“There is some uncertainty and unease among some of our students. We certainly serve students from a whole variety of backgrounds,” White said. “We support all of our students.”
The U.S. Department of Education hadn’t responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
