Great Start Scholarships

Great Start Scholarships aims to make early care and education more affordable for families with children from birth to kindergarten.

State law lists several goals for the program:

• A simple online application for families
• Easier billing and payments for child care providers
• Families spend no more than 7% of their income on child care

Instead of creating a brand-new program, Great Start Scholarships uses the funding and programs Minnesota already has. The goal is to make better use of current resources and offer a simpler, more consistent experience for families and providers.

The reality: More funding is needed

Minnesota is working toward the goals of Great Start Scholarships, but additional funding is needed to make the program a reality. Updating technology, changing policies, and building new processes all come with costs.

We don’t know exactly what that means for our progress toward Great Start Scholarships, but we are working to find solutions and improve the current system for families and child care providers.