Mekki Santee who is both a mom, and student  is apart of Johnson County’s nursing program. Photo By: Josiah Ann Nelson

College students with children can find it challenging to attend class in person, study, or complete assignments due to childcare responsibilities.  

The Hiersteiner Child Development Center on the JCCC campus provides student parents with access to childcare through the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) scholarship.  

For Mekki Santee, a student in the nursing program, it is a huge relief to know that childcare costs are covered, because without it she would be under much more stress. 

“It means I can breathe and know that I can attend classes in school without having to worry about how I am going to afford to pay for the daycare,” Santee said.  

Courtney Hultgren, director of the Hiersteiner Child Development Center, said the center is owned and operated by the college, and its mission is to help students, families, staff, and the community pursue educational goals and find childcare so they can work.   

“The mission of the college is for the students first,” Hultgren said. “Then faculty, staff, and then community members. Within that priority grouping, it’s by application date.” 

Rachel Sztaba, a student enrolled in the Certified Nursing Aide program, is thankful for the CCAMPIS scholarship because, prior to receiving the scholarship, she had to attend online classes due to the high cost of childcare. However, if she wanted to attend Certified Nursing Aide classes, she had to take them in person.  

“I did not have childcare. It is expensive,” Sztaba said. “So that cost was really prohibitive; it made it difficult for me to attend classes.” 

Without CCAMPIS, Kai-Tierra Lane, a student studying business administration, would have to choose between caring solely for her child or continuing her education.  

“It was very difficult, and I really needed help managing all the things that I had going on,” Lane said. “If I didn’t get the scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to pursue my career because I wouldn’t have been able to afford to put my kids in the Hiersteiner Child Development Center.” 

The Department of Education awards CCAMPIS to colleges around the nation. JCCC receives it in four-year cycles; the last was in 2022. JCCC received $618,204 over a four-year period and awards $150,000 in scholarships annually.  

The JCCC CCAMPIS award is set to expire on Sept. 30, 2026. JCCC has applied for the new grant, which will start on Oct. 1, 2026.  

“We did give out money for August and September,” Hultgren said. “But we cannot use any of that funding past September 30. So come October 1, we don’t have any funding for these families off of that grant.” 

Hultgren said that she worked very closely with the Grants, Leadership and Development office to submit the application for the CCAMPIS grant. Anthony Funari, executive director of the Grants, Leadership and Development office, said the grant is very important for student parents because it gives them the opportunity to take more classes and spend more time on coursework. 

“The purpose of the grant is to give these students the opportunity to complete their degree on a faster basis,” Funari said. “It’s a huge financial burden, and by taking that burden off of the students, this gives them an opportunity to maybe work fewer hours and then free them up to actually spend more time on their coursework and pursuing their degree.” 

The decision on which colleges will be selected for the CCAMPIS grant is expected before Oct. 1, 2026.