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High Impact

The PROSPECT Act: Expanding Child Care for Student Parents

Original title: PROSPECT Act

Record date · December 17, 2024

Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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Public stanceCommunity reactions are separate from the official record and reporting.

What This Bill Would Do

The PROSPECT Act (H.R. 1630) proposes $9 billion in federal grants to help community colleges and s provide free, high-quality child care for student parents with children under age 3. The bill also aims to strengthen the early childhood education workforce by funding training programs and expanding access to federal student aid information regarding dependent care.

Why it matters

This bill would directly impact the ability of student parents to remain enrolled and graduate by addressing the high cost and limited availability of infant and toddler care on college campuses, potentially affecting up to 500,000 children.

Who It Would Affect

Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Community college and minority-serving institution student parents

They are the primary beneficiaries of free child care services and dependent care allowance information.

Directly affected

Community colleges and minority-serving institutions

They are eligible to apply for federal grants to build or expand child care facilities and educator training programs.

Directly affected

Early childhood educators

Staff at participating on-campus centers are guaranteed a living wage comparable to elementary educators.

Directly affected

Child care providers

Local providers may receive training, mentorship, and microenterprise grants to expand their services.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for the free child care provided by this bill?
The bill targets children under age 3 of students enrolled at participating community colleges or s.
What is an 'infant and toddler child care desert'?
It is a community that a state or tribal entity determines has a low supply of quality, affordable infant and toddler child care.
Does this bill affect federal student aid?
Yes, it requires institutions to provide better information to students about the 'dependent care allowance,' which can be included in a student's cost of attendance to potentially increase financial aid eligibility.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Where This Stands

Currently filed. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Committee.

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Lobbying Activity

AARP

$4,110,000

2026

HEALTH ISSUESMEDICARE/MEDICAIDLAW ENFORCEMENT/CRIME/CRIMINAL JUSTICEPHARMACY

“P.L. 119-21, One Big Beautiful Bill Act H.R. 8867, Planning for Long-term Aging Needs (PLAN) Act H.R. 5861, Legacy Act of 2025 H.R. 9393, the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act. H.R. 9396, the Prior Authorization Accountability Act. S. 4916, the Aging with Artificial Intelligence Act. H.R. 8100, Safe Staffing Saves Lives Act. S. 3886, Nurses Belong in Nursing Homes Act. H.R. 6766/S. 3492, the Essential Caregivers Act of 2025. H.R. 7966/S. 4118, Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act. S. 2120, the Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025 H.R. 5575, the Firefighters Assisting Seniors to Emergency Response (FASTER) Act of 2025. H.R. 3954/S. 4641, Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act. H.R.5554/S.2831, Stand Strong for Medicare Act. S. 3439/H.R. 6735, Connecting Caregivers to Medicare Act and efforts related to the bill S. 1227/H.R. 2491, Alleviating Barriers for Caregivers Act S. 668/H.R. 3183, Supporting Access to Falls Education and Prevention and Strengthening Training Efforts and Promoting Safety Initiatives (SAFE STEPS) for Veterans Act of 2025 CMS-1851-P, Hospice Proposed rule. CMS-1843-P, Skilled Nursing Facility Proposed rule. CMS-1844-P, Home Health Proposed rule. No bill number. Health care transparency. No bill number. Discussed use of artificial intelligence and health data technology. No bill number. Discussed health-related policies and activities around the fall respiratory virus season. No bill number. Discussed health insurance affordability proposals. No bill number. Discussed Nursing Home staffing standards, safety, and quality. No bill number. Discussed Nursing home transparency and ownership requirements. No bill number. Discussed home health, hospice, and long-term care. No bill number. Discussed falls prevention. No bill number. Discussed social isolation. No bill number. Discussed HUD Assisted Living Requirements No bill number. Discussed family caregiving. No bill number. Discussed AARP paper on Medicare Caregiver Training Services. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid community engagement interim final rule, including the family caregiver exemption. No bill number. Discussed the paid direct care workforce in long-term care. No bill number. Discussed the unaffordability of long-term care. No bill number. Discussed Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration Program and Medicaid HCBS spousal impoverishment protections. No bill number. Discussed Medicaid fraud and family caregivers, Medicaid self-direction programs. No bill number. Discussed sandwich generation family caregiver hearing and submitted a statement for the record discussing family caregivers and sandwich generation caregivers, programs that support them, AARP caregiving resources, and federal policies to support sandwich generation caregivers and caregivers more broadly. No bill number. Discussed long-term care. No bill number. CMS-2453-NC; Medicaid Program; 2028 Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Quality Measure Set Submitted comments No bill number. Discussed expanding access to home care. No bill number. Discussed the increasing cost of home care No bill number. Discussed HSA use for telehealth chronic care management services/subscriptions. No bill number. Discussed artificial intelligence and technology”

Senate LDAMatched on title words onlyView on LDA.gov →

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Integration of Child Care and Higher Ed

The bill explicitly links student persistence and graduation rates to the availability of on-campus child care, treating child care as a core component of higher education infrastructure rather than a peripheral service.

Connected Entities

Congress, Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. 1070e et seq. and 5 more
OrganizationCongress“Findings and statements within the bill”Map →
bill numberHigher Education Act of 1965“The existing Child Care Access Means Parents in School Federal Grant program”Map →
bill number20 U.S.C. 1070e et seq.“Section of the Higher Education Act of 1965”Map →
OrganizationUnited States Government“Providing grants through the PROSPECT Act”Map →
OrganizationCommunity Colleges“Target institutions for grant funding”Map →
PersonHayes“Lead sponsor of the bill”Map →
OrganizationMinority-Serving Institutions“Target institutions for grant funding”Map →
PersonNorcross“Co-sponsor of the bill”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.congress.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance85
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy40
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment10
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz30
    Current news / social attention level

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