Early Childhood Education Scholarships for Students and Working Teachers

If you already work in child care, start with the workforce category — it is the deepest section of this page.

The first program to check is the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood scholarship (Teacher Education And Compensation Helps), which has run since 1990 as a cost-shared model: the scholarship pays most of the cost of tuition, books and travel, often requires and supports paid release time, and awards a raise or bonus once the required credit hours are done.

Every T.E.A.C.H. scholarship carries a commitment in return — after the raise or bonus, you stay in your child care setting for a period each state program sets.

As of October 2026, the T.E.A.C.H.

Early Childhood National Center lists programs in 21 states.

If the collision with the federal TEACH Grant — a different program, for future school teachers — has you second-guessing, the TEACH Grant vs T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood comparison clears it up.

T.E.A.C.H. is not the only workforce money.

States fund scholarships of their own, run by different agencies.

The examples we verified as of October 2026:

• Massachusetts — the Early Childhood Educators Scholarship, run by the state Department of Higher Education, pays per credit: $750 per credit (up to $6,750 a semester) at UMass and private colleges, $550 (up to $4,950) at state universities, and $350 (up to $3,150) at community colleges. Eligibility includes employment in an EEC licensed or funded program — or 'prospective student' status — an active EEC PQ Registry number, the FAFSA or MASFA, and a signed agreement to keep working in Massachusetts early education; public school jobs do not qualify. The 2026-2027 application opened April 1, 2026.
• Kentucky — the Early Childhood Development Scholarship, run through KHEAA under rule 11 KAR 16:010, requires Kentucky residency and employment of at least 20 hours a week in a participating early childhood facility, and funds an approved credential, associate, bachelor's or master's degree.
• Illinois — the Gateways Scholarship pays a portion of tuition for staff of Illinois licensed programs or Preschool for All working 15 or more hours a week, covering ECE and child development associate, bachelor's or master's degrees, Gateways credentials, or Professional Educator Licensure coursework. Applicants must have been employed by their current program for at least one year (90 days at an ExceleRate Bronze, Silver or Gold Circle of Quality program). Recipients pay the remaining tuition themselves and commit to continued work in early care and education after the scholarship contract.
• New York — QUALITYstarsNY, New York's quality rating and improvement system, runs an Academic Scholarship that funds tuition for one course per semester (maximum two a year) for staff working 20 or more hours a week in a teaching or leadership role at a participating program. Applicants need at least 12 months of continuous employment at a participating program, and those eligible for New York's Educational Incentive Program must use EIP first.
• Arizona — First Things First College Scholarships for Early Childhood Professionals fund degrees and credentials for people working with children birth to 5. Only Arizona Early Childhood Workforce Registry members can access them, and there is no minimum or maximum weekly work hours requirement.
• Wyoming — WY Quality Counts scholarships pay up to $1,500 for college degrees or $2,300 for CDA credential programs, paid directly to the institution. Recipients must keep working in a Wyoming-licensed child care program for set hours afterward, and there is a lifetime cap of 150 credit hours.
• Kansas — KCCTO's Higher Education Scholarship pays 100% of eligible tuition and required fees for up to 6 credit hours per semester of ECE coursework at accredited Kansas institutions, toward a CDA, certificate, associate or bachelor's, for staff of licensed Kansas programs. Head Start staff are ineligible, and applicants must use other aid first — including the Kansas Promise Scholarship where applicable — and earn at least a C.

More exist beyond those seven.

Connecticut's OEC Scholarship Assistance Program helps staff working in Connecticut child care programs pay for a CDA, an ECE associate or bachelor's degree, or stand-alone courses, applied for through the OEC Professional Registry.

Delaware's CDA scholarships for fiscal 2027 give a $500 support stipend, books, a tablet and the CDA assessment fee for educators with a diploma working 20 or more hours a week in a licensed program.

And Child Care Aware of Washington offers scholarships for early learning professionals pursuing a bachelor's degree or a coaching credential.

Employer money sits alongside the state funds.

Bright Horizons' Horizons CDA and Degree Program covers 100% of tuition, books and fees for the CDA and for an ECE associate or bachelor's degree at its partner schools, with the degree option for full-time center-based employees.

KinderCare's careers page lists tuition reimbursement among benefits that depend on your eligibility and role — no dollar amount for it was verified in our research.

Employer tuition is a route of its own, and our guide to how to get an ECE degree paid for covers the fine print.

Students and career changers start from list price.

College Board's average published tuition and fees for 2025-26 are $4,150 at public two-year colleges (in-district), $11,950 at public four-year colleges (in-state) and $45,000 at private nonprofit four-year colleges.

The catch is that the state funds above are workforce money.

Their eligibility lines are built around current employment — minimum weekly hours in a licensed or participating program in four of the states listed — so read the eligibility rules before counting on one as a student.

Massachusetts is the partial exception: its scholarship admits applicants with 'prospective student' status alongside people already employed in an EEC licensed or funded program.

One honest gap: our research did not verify a standing national scholarship specifically for early childhood education majors.

Rather than list an award we cannot confirm, we will point to where the verifiable money is — state-level funds and foundations.

Virginia's Project Pathfinders, administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, is a scholarship for people working with children birth to 5 to attend a Virginia community college toward an early childhood certificate or degree.

If you have not worked in child care yet, start with your college's own aid and any program that admits prospective students.

College-specific aid is the other bucket for majors: the financial aid office at the college you will attend administers institutional scholarships, and the ECE department can point to endowed awards, transfer scholarships and stipends tied to the field.

Ask both offices in the same semester you apply.

Scholarships sit alongside federal grants and loan forgiveness, which are their own category of aid under their own rules.

Montessori training has funding of its own, separate from the state systems.

AMI/USA runs a fund that awards partial scholarships — tuition reductions — toward AMI training in the U.S., and lists Montessori schools offering to sponsor trainees.

A $2,000 Black Montessori Education Fund scholarship for teachers pursuing training at a MACTE-accredited centre is described on a training centre's page, but our research did not confirm it on the fund's own site, so verify it with the fund directly before you count on it.

In our research, funding narrows at the graduate level — but it exists.

Two of the state programs above say outright that they reach a master's: Kentucky's Early Childhood Development Scholarship funds an approved credential, associate, bachelor's or master's degree — its 2022 rule amendment lifted a per-semester credit cap and added master's degrees — and Illinois' Gateways Scholarship covers ECE and child development master's degrees among its eligible coursework.

For the other states listed here, and for T.E.A.C.H., our research did not confirm which programs fund master's-level study.

Eligibility is set state by state, so ask the program directly.

The employer program documented in our research stops at the bachelor's: Bright Horizons covers the CDA and an ECE associate or bachelor's degree, nothing above.

For graduate students, the university's own money is the place to ask: assistantships, fellowships and departmental awards, administered by the graduate school.

When you compare graduate programs, put the money question to each one; what aid a part-time working teacher can receive is exactly the kind of thing a financial aid office can answer in writing.

The payoff sits above the classroom: BLS says postsecondary teachers typically need a Ph.D., but a master's degree may be enough for some community college teaching jobs — one lane BLS documents for master's holders.

The master's in early childhood education guide covers the degree types, timelines and the roles they feed.

Start with T.E.A.C.H., because it is the easiest check.

As of October 2026 the national center lists programs in 21 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin.

Tennessee appears on the directory only for WAGE$ Tennessee, not for a T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program.

And the directory is not a map of the whole country — California, Texas, Maryland, Mississippi, West Virginia and Alaska are among the states it did not list.

The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood scholarship guide carries the full picture: what state programs pay, who qualifies and how to apply.

If your state is not on that list, do not stop — Illinois is not on it either, and Gateways is its workforce scholarship.

State funds live in different places: a state higher education department (Massachusetts), Kentucky's KHEAA, the state's quality rating and improvement system (New York's QUALITYstarsNY), a state early childhood office (Connecticut's OEC), a workforce program (Wyoming's Quality Counts), or a foundation (Virginia's Project Pathfinders).

The practical people to ask, in order: your director or owner — T.E.A.C.H.'s costs are shared with the sponsoring child care program, and Illinois' Gateways Scholarship requires at least a year with your current program before you apply — your college's financial aid office, and your state child care licensing agency or early childhood office, which can tell you which scholarship programs currently operate where you work.

The applications reward preparation more than polish.

Five habits that travel across the programs above:

This page is career information, not licensing, legal or financial-aid advice. Scholarship rules change — confirm current terms with the program named, or with your state early childhood office.