Emporia State University plans to close its campus child care facility at the end of next August, and already parents are stressed. The announcement was made in May, but even 15 months feels like short notice given the limited options for child care in rural Kansas. The move has become a source of friction on campus.

But the drama playing out over one child care center in Kansas is a microcosm of the struggles felt across higher education and the broader business world as workers struggle to find coverage for their kids. Experts note that while jobs are plentiful, many eligible candidates are frozen out of the workforce by their inability to secure affordable child care.

Adding to workforce concerns, a recent report from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources found that a lack of childcare subsidies or discounts was one the highest areas of dissatisfaction for employee in higher education, many of whom are considering leaving their jobs.

Emporia State is hardly alone in closing its child care center. The University of Vermont shuttered its on-campus facility in 2020; Mount Holyoke and Curry College followed suit in 2021, just to name a few. The closure of such facilities isn't limited to the higher ed world. A recent report from the nonprofit advocacy group Child Care Aware of America found that nearly 16,000 providers across the U.S. closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving parents with limited options.

Child care costs have outpaced soaring inflation, Hedgepeth said, more expensive than in-state tuition at a public four-year university and, in some regions of the U.S., even pricier than housing. Yet the wages for child care providers remain low, further exacerbating the child care crisis. In addition, a significant number of workers have departed the field since the pandemic began.

"People are leaving the [child care] workforce to go on and pursue less stressful, better-paying jobs," said Cindy Lehnhoff, director of the nonprofit National Child Care Association. "And college campuses are not going to be excluded from that. Another thing that's going to hurt the college campuses: some colleges have discontinued their teaching or early childhood degrees for lack of participation. People aren't going after these degrees, because they've learned that even if this is what they want to do, they can't afford to do it and have a life."