University employees say the early childhood learning center was the most significant family-friendly benefit on campus.
Nimito/iStock/Getty Images Plus
The University of Louisville’s Early Learning Campus, the institution’s preschool for the children of students and employees, will close at the end of June after 17 years of operation, Louisville Public Media reported Wednesday. University leaders told the news outlet the closure was due to “budgetary considerations”; the university’s College of Education and Human Development, where the ELC is housed, will undergo a $1.7 million budget cut in the 2026 fiscal year.
The announcement came as a shock to parents of ELC students, who said the university should have made them aware the center was facing financial difficulties. About 250 parents, most of them faculty and staff, sent a letter to university leaders opposing the closure.
“Because UofL offers lower salaries than its peer institutions, we should offer excellent benefits,” parents said in the letter. “Losing the ELC takes away UofL’s most significant family-friendly benefit on campus, particularly when we offer very little paid leave compared to our peer institutions.”
One student who is a resident of Family Scholar House, a nonprofit that provides housing and resources to student parents, told Louisville Public Media that the ELC was just one of several supports that have been cut in recent years: “We used to get gas cards. We don’t get that anymore. And [food] pantry donations. I mean, we get those, but it’s slim.”
In an email to families about the closure, university administrators wrote, “UofL remains committed to providing high-quality education and care at the site until that time, provided that sufficient and appropriate staffing levels remain in place. UofL will communicate any additional changes resulting from this transition, including any changes in ELC hours of operation, as far in advance as possible.”
