You can get the CDA's 120 training hours without paying for them: the federal iCDA series offers free CDA classes online covering 80 of the 120 hours, with more EEP courses free on the same platform, and employers such as Bright Horizons cover 100% of tuition, books and fees for eligible staff.
T.E.A.C.H. scholarships are cost-shared rather than free: in the states that run them they pay most of the cost of tuition, books and travel, and Alabama's program has a CDA scholarship covering 85% of the assessment fee.
One program — Circle CDA — bundles all 120 hours into a single curriculum for the preschool credential, though the pages we reviewed do not state its price.
Here is who funds each route — and the catches.
Free national CDA training options
The federal government funds one directly: the iCDA Course Preparation Series, free on Early Education Pathways (EEP).
EEP is the free federal learning platform that replaced the Individualized Professional Development (iPD) Portfolio when it launched in July 2026, created and jointly funded by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care.
The iCDA series is built as eight courses with 10 hours in each of the eight CDA subject areas — 80 of the 120 training hours the CDA requires.
Candidates can add other EEP courses to reach the full 120, so the hours can be assembled entirely on the platform at no cost; reaching 120 simply means stacking courses rather than finishing one.
Two checks keep any free option honest: whether the program covers all 120 hours or only part of them, and how its hours spread across the eight subject areas. CDA classes for the 120 training hours compares the online, college-credit and paid-provider routes hour by hour.
State-funded CDA programs
State-funded routes are exactly that: state by state.
The program documented in most depth in our research is the Circle CDA Training Program, built by the Children's Learning Institute at UTHealth Houston and delivered on the CLI Engage platform.
It provides all 120 training hours, plus support with the competency statements and the portfolio, for the center-based Preschool CDA.
Two scope limits matter.
The Infant-Toddler version of Circle CDA does not yet provide all 120 hours, so infant and toddler teachers need a different source for the remainder.
The Preschool materials can also be used by high school students earning a CDA — a route if you are still in school.
What we could not confirm is the price.
The CLI Engage pages our research reviewed describe the training but do not state who gets it free of charge, so check access and any cost with CLI Engage before you count on it as a zero-cost route.
Registered apprenticeship is a second route that pays while you train.
Apprenticeship.gov lists Early Childhood Educator among its registered apprenticeship occupations, and federal standards require registered programs to pay a progressively increasing wage tied to the skills an apprentice gains, with credit for prior experience or training.
Ask a program you are considering whether its instruction includes CDA preparation.
Texas shows the patchwork: Circle CDA was built there, yet Texas is among the states with no T.E.A.C.H. program in the national center's directory.
State scholarships — the other main route — are covered below, alongside the application fee.
Employers that pay for your CDA
The employer program documented in most depth in our research is Bright Horizons' Horizons CDA & Degree Program.
It covers 100% of tuition, books and fees for the CDA and for an early childhood associate or bachelor's degree at its partner schools, which bill the company directly — the covered costs do not run through the staff member.
The eligibility lines are specific.
The degree option is for full-time center-based employees, who are eligible from day one; part-time staff can earn the CDA but not a degree.
Degree seekers need prior early childhood credits or a CDA already, and applicants in California and New York need a CDA or prior child care experience.
In a June 2026 release the company reported that more than 8,000 educators have enrolled in the program and nearly 3,000 have earned a CDA or degree.
KinderCare's careers page lists tuition reimbursement for continuing education among benefits that depend on your eligibility and role.
Our research found no published amount, so ask what the benefit covers — in writing — before you enroll assuming it is paid.
If you are job hunting with the CDA in mind, ask each employer three things: whether it pays for CDA training, whether that includes the Council's assessment fee, and whether repayment terms apply if you leave before you finish.
Scholarships for the application fee
The training hours are only part of the bill.
The Council for Professional Recognition, which awards the credential, charges an initial assessment fee of $525, paid online at application — a charge separate from training costs.
So the practical question is who pays the fee, not just the tuition.
The Council's own answer points away from the Council: it says income-eligible candidates may have their state pay for all or part of CDA training and possibly the assessment fee, and it lists funding organizations by state on its CDA Scholarships page.
The credential's other requirements — eligibility, the portfolio, the exam — are covered in what the CDA credential is (licensing guide).
The clearest fee-specific example in our research is Alabama.
T.E.A.C.H.
Early Childhood Alabama, run by the Alabama Partnership for Children, offers a scholarship dedicated to the CDA Assessment Fee: it covers 85% of the assessment fee and pays a $200 bonus when the credential is earned.
That is one state's version of a national scheme.
T.E.A.C.H.
Early Childhood has run since 1990 as a cost-shared scholarship that ties education to pay: scholarships pay most of the cost of tuition, books and travel, often require and support paid release time, and award a raise or bonus once the required credit hours are finished.
As of October 2026 the national center lists T.E.A.C.H. programs in 21 states.
It does not run everywhere — California, Texas and Maryland are among the states absent from the national center's directory — and every scholarship carries a stay commitment, with the period set by each state program.
The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood scholarship guide covers how the cost-sharing, eligible credentials and commitment periods work, and what to ask before you sign.
- Does the scholarship pay part of the Council's $525 assessment fee, or only training?
- What does the scholarship pay, and what do I owe?
- What raise, bonus or release time comes with it?
- How long must I stay in my program after I receive the raise or bonus?
Catches to watch for
80 hours is not 120. The free federal iCDA series covers 80 of the 120 hours; reaching 120 means adding other EEP courses.
Plan the full course list before you count the hours as done.
The credential has a setting and an age band. As of October 2026 the Council offers the CDA in five settings: center-based Infant-Toddler, center-based Preschool, center-based Birth to Five, Family Child Care and Home Visitor.
Circle CDA's complete 120 hours are for the center-based Preschool CDA, and its Infant-Toddler track does not yet reach 120 hours — so match the training to the credential type you plan to seek.
Free hours are not automatically countable hours. Some training providers advertise on their own sites that their courses are accepted everywhere; acceptance is decided state by state, by each state's child care licensing agency or workforce registry.
Whether a state counts EEP hours toward its required training is that state's decision.
Ask about the strings. Every T.E.A.C.H. scholarship carries a stay commitment set by the state program.
Bright Horizons' repayment terms are a different story: our research did not find stay-or-repay terms on its public program pages, so ask before you sign anything.
The fee is a separate charge. The Council's $525 initial assessment fee is paid to the Council at application, separate from any training costs — the scholarship section above covers who may pay it.
This page is career information, not licensing or legal advice. Funding terms are set by each program, and training rules by your state child care licensing agency; confirm current details with both before you enroll.
Confirm the hours count where you work