T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship Updates 2018

Have you heard about all the updates to T.E.A.C.H.? There are some exciting new developments launching now and we want you to know all about them.

What scholarships are not continuing? All of our current scholarship offerings are continuing beyond fall semester, with the exception of Workforce Support Professionals pursuing a CDA, Associates, or Bachelor’s degree. Workforce Support professionals are non-direct care staff that supports quality and workforce initiatives. Examples of Workforce Support Professionals are Quality Improvement Consultants or Specialists, college faculty, Early Childhood Specialists, or Early On Home Visitors. While we can no longer support Workforce Support Professionals on a CDA, AA, or BA scholarship, we CAN still support this population on a Master’s Degree Scholarship. Providers working in a licensed center or home-based program will still be supported on all of the scholarships continuing to be offered and listed below.

Scholarships that will continue to be offered:
CDA Assessment
Associates Degree/CDA Training
Bachelor’s Degree
Master’s Degree (licensed providers AND workforce support professionals)


Star Rating Stipend
Do you work in a program or operate a home-based child care that is Star Rated through the Great Start to Quality Star Rating System? If you do, you and your employer may be eligible to receive an additional $150 stipend on each semester of your T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship CDA, Associates Degree, Bachelor’s Degree, or Master’s Degree scholarship.

Student Access Stipend
The Student Access Stipend is replacing what we formerly referred to as the Travel Stipend, and has been increased from $50/semester to $100/semester. The purpose of this stipend is to reduce student costs and allow increased access to scholarship participation. The student Access Stipend is applied each semester to Associates Degree/CDA Training and Bachelor’s Degree scholarships pursing the Raise or Bonus option only.


Rethinking Release Time
Release time has been a barrier to some employers participating in the scholarship. In order to reduce participation barriers, we are implementing the following revision to our release time policy:

Old method:
An employee working 30 or more hours each week was eligible for paid release time based on the number of credits they took each semester. So an employee taking 6 credits (maximum) would have been eligible to receive 6 hours of paid release time to attend class, study, or attend to other obligations each week their classes met. We asked employers to track this time and we reimbursed the employer at the end of the semester for half of the time taken by the employee at a rate of $10 per hour.

New method:
An employee working 30 or more hours each week is eligible for up to 3 hours of paid release time each week. The center will be reimbursed for all three hours at a rate of $11 per hour each week classes are held during the semester. The release time will be paid to the center at the time of tuition processing, and so the employer will no longer have to wait until the end of the semester for the reimbursement.


So what does all of this mean?
Here’s a sample cost analysis for one semester on a recipient working at a Star Rated center and utilizing an Associates Degree scholarship.

The average cost of 6 credits with tuition, fees, and books at a community college is $1,200 per semester. T.E.A.C.H. pays the full tuition to the college, and then uses the breakdown below.

 

Recipient owes 10% of total = $-120.00
Student Access Stipend  ($100) is applied= $-20.00
Star-Rated Stipend ($150) is applied = $130.00 check issued to the student each semester
*PLUS $300 bonus from T.E.A.C.H. and Bonus or Raise from an employer at contract end.

Employer owes 10% of total = $-120.00
Release time is processed = $408
Star-Rated Stipend ($150) is applied = $558.00 check issued to employer each semester
*MINUS release time $ actually paid through employee wages and issuing raise or bonus at contract end.