Policymakers in Illinois have launched early care and education workforce scholarship programs in recent years, in an attempt to curb the high rates of staff turnover. At city and state levels, scholarship programs were created with the intent of providing career advancement opportunities to current staff, while also recruiting new members into the workforce. The number of scholarship applications across programs has largely surpassed the amount of financial aid available, underscoring the need to support our early learning workforce.
Financial aid opportunities for higher education are a necessity for those aspiring to become early childhood educators. To become an early childhood lead teacher in a child care program, Illinois’s licensing standards require at least 6 semester hours/9 quarter hours of college course credit in child development or early childhood. However, child care staff are typically paid near minimum wage, making college courses financially out-of-reach without financial assistance.
