Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships

26 Mar

Overview

The Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships program helps families with children from birth to kindergarten entry to access high-quality early childhood programs. This market-based approach focuses on children with the highest needs, empowering parents with the flexibility to choose from a range of program options including centers, home-based programs, faith-based care, schools, or Head Start.

Why It Matters

Low-income children often arrive in kindergarten up to two years behind their peers, creating achievement gaps that persist throughout their education. Yet, many lower-income Minnesota families do not have sufficient resources to access high-quality early care and education programs that can help their children enter kindergarten ready to succeed.

The Early Learning Scholarships program addresses this problem with a market-based solution that increases parents' capacity to make the right choices for their children. It puts families — not programs — at the center, enabling families to access high-quality early care and education programs that best fit their needs and circumstances. At the same time, it creates market incentives that increase the supply of high-quality options in communities where such programs were previously unsustainable.

Quick Facts

Core Model: Financial scholarships for eligible families to access quality-rated early childhood programs
Notable Feature: Empowers parents to choose from diverse program types instead of routing families to specific programs
Launch Date: First piloted with private funding, then established statewide in 2013
Eligibility: Families with incomes at or below 47% of State Median Income
Current Funding: $197 million per year for fiscal years 2024-2025, up from $70 million in 2023
Program Coverage: Statewide across Minnesota

Background

The Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships program was first developed as a pilot initiative by Minnesota's business community, pioneering a "scholarship" approach driven by parent choice in early childhood. The program was designed to empower parents with information about high-quality early care and education options and the financial resources they need to access those programs.

The model is based on the fundamental principle that parent-driven solutions yield better results than top-down, government-run programs. It is designed around four core principles: start early in life before gaps grow too large; target the most disadvantaged children; focus on outcomes; and empower parent choice.

After demonstrating effectiveness in the pilot phase, the program was scaled up statewide with government support and funding, now reaching families across Minnesota.

How it Works

The program's success is driven by three key components:

Parents apply for scholarships and, if eligible, receive funds to pay for their chosen early learning program
Families can select any program certified through the Parent Aware rating system, including centers, homes, schools, churches, and Head Start
Scholarship dollars are paid to the designated Parent Aware Rated Program of the parent’s choice.

The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families administers the program, with scholarships distributed through regional administrators across Minnesota's 13 Economic Development Regions.

The program prioritizes low-income children and those who are especially vulnerable, including children in foster care, experiencing homelessness, who have teen parents, or whose parents are in drug treatment or incarcerated.

Key Features

Continuous Eligibility: Families receive a one-time authorization that remains valid until the child enters kindergarten, providing stability for families with young children
Flexible Award Structure: Starting July 2024, scholarship amounts are based on the child's age, program type, county location, and Parent Aware rating status, with minimum amounts of $15,000 per year for center settings and $12,000 for home settings
Parent Choice: Families select from a variety of program types based on their values, work schedule, and child's needs
Information Support: Provides parents with the information about options that they need to make informed choice among early care and education programs
Quality Requirements: Families use scholarships for providers with a Parent Aware quality rating, with the highest amounts going to the highest rated providers, to ensure public funding supports high-quality programs

Policy Levers

Funding Appropriations: Legislators increased funding from $70 million to $197 million annually for fiscal years 2024-2025
Eligibility Parameters: Income eligibility set at 47% of State Median Income to target families with financial need
Priority Categories: Defined specific priority populations to ensure children with the highest needs receive funding first
Quality Standards: Required participation in the Parent Aware quality rating system ensures public funds support effective programs
Program Integration: Plans to combine the Early Learning Scholarship program with the federally funded childcare subsidy program into a single funding stream by 2028

Results

The Minnesota Early Learning Scholarships program has demonstrated positive outcomes:

Kindergarten Readiness: Early studies showed that children who participated in scholarship-funded programs demonstrated improved kindergarten readiness, with readiness rates increasing from roughly 50% to 70% for participating children.
Supply Expansion: The scholarship approach has successfully increased the supply of high-quality early learning options in communities where such programs were previously financially unsustainable
Empowering Parents: The program places decision-making authority directly with parents rather than government agencies, respecting families' ability to choose what works best for their children's unique needs. This parent-driven approach has led to higher program satisfaction and better matches between children's needs and the services they receive.