Childcare Costs Put College Out of Reach for Bay Area Parents
Joshua Bay
March 17, 2026
A new California Competes report finds that more than 100,000 adults with young children say childcare costs prevent them from enrolling in or returning to college.
California is aiming to increase the number of residents with bachelor’s degrees to strengthen the regional workforce and economy. However, a new report from California Competes finds that among the population without a degree, parents raising young children face some of the most significant barriers to enrolling in and completing college.
Among residents ages 25 to 54 without a college degree, 42 percent have a child under the age of 18, totaling about 2.7 million people statewide, the report found. In the Bay Area—which encompasses Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma Counties—more than 100,000 adults with dependents who said they intend to enroll cited childcare as a significant obstacle to doing so.
