With T.E.A.C.H. scholarships, college becomes affordable for early-care providers

As the state seeks to increase the credentials of early-care providers, it’s crucial that educators have an affordable pathway to higher education.

In 2010, Ready to Learn Providence became the Rhode Island home of T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood®, a project now found in 22 states and the District of Columbia. T.E.A.C.H. RI awards scholarships to home- and center-based educators pursuing degrees in early childhood education (ECE)/child development at the Community College of Rhode Island. It then connects this increased education with increased compensation, which leads to better teacher retention.

T.E.A.C.H. pays 80 percent of tuition and 90 percent of book costs for ECE students attending CCRI, $250 per contract year toward bonus pay, and a $40 credit each semester toward travel or technology costs. Sponsoring programs and scholarship recipients share the remaining costs. (See links below for details on those costs.)

In the spring semester of 2012, more than 35 early-care providers will be pursuing degrees or ECE certification at CCRI, thanks to their T.E.A.C.H. awards.

“Since I was little, teaching young children has been my dream,” explains Lidia Vanessa Pena (above), a teaching assistant at the Federal Hill House Child Care Center. Earning a degree in the field has been part of that dream, she says, but paying for the costs entirely out of her own pocket was a struggle. “This scholarship is a very big help.”

T.E.A.C.H. Requirements for Early-Care Professionals

Costs for Center-Based Programs/Educators

Costs for Home Child-Care Programs

Contact Information

Funders

R.I. Colleges with Early Childhood Programs
(Currently, T.E.A.C.H. scholarships can be used only at the Community College of Rhode Island.)

T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Rhode Island is a project of Ready to Learn Providence and a licensed program of Child Care Services Association in North Carolina.