FIPSE Programs Deserve Sustained Federal Support

Earlier this year, we highlighted the harmful consequences of proposed federal budget cuts to cornerstone programs like TRIO, GEAR UP, and SEOG, which are critical supports for low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented students. This piece explores the President’s FY26 budget proposal to eliminate evidence-based and evidence-building college completion efforts, including the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS).

FIPSE has historically served as the federal government’s primary innovation engine for postsecondary education, providing institutions with funds to test and scale solutions tailored to their student populations. These investments play a unique federal role as the nation works to improve student achievement, learning outcomes, and higher education’s return on public investment. It is both appropriate and essential for the federal government to identify, support, and scale effective practices across the country. Programs like CCAMPIS extend this role by improving learning and completion outcomes for student parents.

States are already facing mounting fiscal pressures, and many are anticipating significant budget shortfalls. Without continued federal investment, institutions, particularly underfunded public colleges and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), will lack the capacity to sustain or expand student success strategies. Cutting programs like FIPSE and CCAMPIS would not only dismantle effective support for students but do so at a time when states are least equipped to fill the gap.

Federal College Completion Grant Programs Drive Institutional Innovation and Student Success

Programs funded under FIPSE and CCAMPIS reflect some of the federal government’s most targeted efforts in institutional strategies that boost college completion for underserved students. These initiatives support parenting students, rural learners, adults with some college but no degree, and students facing basic needs insecurity. Despite distinct program goals, they share a common mission: to increase student persistence and degree attainment through evidence-based, institutionally driven solutions.

While college enrollment has increased over the last few decades, students from low-income families, communities of color, and rural areas remain significantly less likely to complete a postsecondary degree. Students from the highest income quartile are nearly 3.5 times more likely to enroll in college than those from the lowest quartile. But the disparities don’t end at enrollment. While 76 percent of high-income students complete a bachelor’s degree within six years, only 48 percent of low-income students do the same.

Federal programs like CCAMPIS and FIPSE (Basic Needs Grant, PSSG, RPED) are helping to close these gaps:

• CCAMPIS: Nearly one in five undergraduate students is a parent, yet parenting students are significantly less likely to complete their degrees. Access to affordable child care is one of the biggest barriers they face. CCAMPIS provides campus-based child care for low-income parenting students, which has been linked to higher GPAs, stronger retention, and increased graduation rates.
• Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program: Basic needs insecurity remains a significant barrier to college completion. In 2021, 52 percent of students reported experiencing food insecurity, and 43 percent faced housing insecurity.  These grants support emergency aid, food pantries, and other campus resources that help students stay enrolled and graduate.
• Postsecondary Student Success Grants (PSSG): More than 40 million adults in the U.S. have earned some college credit but never completed a degree. Many face financial pressures, family responsibilities, or a lack of targeted support. PSSG specifically helps institutions invest in data-driven and evidence-based reforms to encourage postsecondary retention and completion among students who are close to graduation, as well as those who stopped-out because of various challenges.
• Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development Program (RPED): Rural students face unique access and completion barriers, including limited college options, unreliable internet, and fewer career-aligned programs. Only 29 percent of rural 18 to 24-year-olds are enrolled in college, compared to 48 percent of their urban peers. RPED invests in rural-serving institutions to expand access, build local partnerships, and align academic offerings with regional workforce needs.

How FIPSE and CCAMPIS Programs Support Students on the Ground

From childcare to coaching to basic needs, FIPSE-funded programs directly support student persistence and success. Below are examples of how institutions are using these grants to meet students where they are:

CCAMPIS: The CCAMPIS program supports over 240 institutions in providing campus-based childcare services, helping thousands of low-income parenting students balance school and caregiving responsibilities. Examples highlighted by New America include:

• In Michigan, Mott Community College provides early childhood education to children ages six months to five years old. On-campus childcare is available for students, as well as Mott faculty and staff. Additionally, the grant provides parenting students with wraparound supports such as scholarships, transportation assistance, and accessing healthy foods.
• Linn-Benton Community College in Oregon serves about 4,000 students in a rural part of the state. Each academic term, they conduct a student support survey to determine what types of targeted support will improve parenting students’ outcomes. They also provide on-campus child care for parenting students.

PSSG: The following examples illustrate how institutions are leveraging PSSG funding to implement these student-centered strategies on the ground:

• In Texas, Austin Community College’s Ensuring Student Success (ACCESS Project) provided outreach and reenrollment coaching through InsideTrack to improve enrollment, persistence, completion, and career readiness. The program served 1,000 students who stopped out post-2020 with financial, personal, and tech support.
• In New Jersey, Passaic County Community College’s Targeted Support for Stop-Out Students (PCCC-TSSS) scaled its SUCCESS program to engage stop-out students through targeted outreach, advising, and evidence-based coaching from InsideTrack. They provided participating students with a $50 incentive and $200 emergency aid stipend to help cover childcare, transportation, and technology access.

Basic Needs Grant: In 2023, the University of Houston-Downtown received funding through the Basic Needs Grant to launch a centralized Basic Needs Center and Gator Emergency Fund. Through this initiative, students received emergency aid through the Gator Emergency Fund, one-on-one guidance from Basic Needs Coordinators, financial literacy workshops, and help navigating food, housing, and transportation assistance. Demand quickly outpaced resources, underscoring the need for continued federal investment.

Investing in What Works to Improve College Completion and Economic Mobility

From re-engaging adults with some college and no degree to expanding open access textbooks, supporting student veterans, and improving digital infrastructure at MSIs, federal grant programs help institutions meet the evolving needs of their students.

Unlike TRIO and GEAR UP, many of these newer programs have not received consistent funding or evaluation support. Without stable funding and the opportunity for rigorous evaluation, promising practices risk being underdeveloped or abandoned before they can demonstrate their full impact. These programs thus fill critical policy and practice gaps in higher education.

The overwhelming majority of federal college completion programs are awarded through rigorous, merit-based reviews aligned with student success goals. As with any public investment, these programs should be continuously evaluated and strengthened. Acknowledging room for improvement does not diminish their impact; it reinforces the need for sustained funding that allows for testing, refining, and scaling successful practices.

At a time when federal leadership should be doubling down on proven strategies to strengthen educational opportunity and economic mobility, this budget reverses progress. We urge Congress to reject the proposed funding cuts and ensure that institutions, especially those serving low-income, first-generation, rural, and underserved students, have the tools and resources they need to help more students graduate and thrive.