College Tuition Scholarship Guidelines

Louisiana Community and Technical College System – online classes

One to three-hour online courses from LCTCS, no matter which home school you choose (see website for list of colleges http://online.lctcs.edu/ ), currently costs $357 plus a $40 online registration fee. Scholarships will pay $307 towards the tuition for each approved course which does not include the online registration fee or required textbooks. (Cost of these classes and therefore the award amount are subject to change.)

Louisiana Technical Colleges (various locations)

For child care employees who a) take college classes to earn hours towards a CDA, a Technical Diploma, or a Technical Competency Area (TCA), or b) take individual courses to meet Quality Start staff qualifications or to advance on the Louisiana Pathways Career Ladders, scholarships will pay 100% of tuition and fees as long as the student is required to purchase their own textbook for the class.  If the student is taking a CDA class and will not be required to purchase a book (will use same book purchased for previous class), scholarship will pay all tuition and fees minus $25.

For child care employees working towards an approved associate’s degree, scholarships will pay for tuition only.  The scholarship recipient is responsible for paying all fees and securing required textbooks.  During semesters in which a scholarship recipient is scheduled to take classes other than education classes (such as English, History, Math, etc.), article summaries will be required (see instructions below).

Community Colleges (including Louisiana Technical Community Colleges)

For child care employees taking classes to earn hours towards a CDA, a Technical Diploma, or a Technical Competency Area (TCA), or b) takes individual courses to meet Quality Start staff qualifications or to advance on the Louisiana Pathways Career Ladders, scholarships will pay for tuition, operational fee, technology fee, and academic excellence fee. The scholarship recipient is responsible for all other fees and required textbooks.

For child care employees working towards an approved associate’s degree, scholarships will pay for tuition only.  The scholarship recipient is responsible for paying all fees and securing required textbooks.  During semesters in which a scholarship recipient is scheduled to take classes other than education classes (such as English, History, Math, etc.), article summaries will be required (see instructions below).

Accredited 2-year or 4-year Colleges and Universities

For child care employees working toward an approved associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree, scholarships will pay for tuition only.  Scholarship recipient will be responsible for all fees and required textbooks. During semesters in which a scholarship recipient is scheduled to take classes other than education classes (such as English, History, Math, etc.), article summaries will be required (see instructions below).

For child care employees working towards an approved master’s degree or doctorate, or taking individual courses to meet Quality Start staff qualifications or to advance on the Louisiana Pathways Career Ladders, scholarships will pay for tuition only.   Article summaries will not be required.

College Tuition Scholarship Guidelines

Article Summaries

Article summaries are required for scholarship recipients taking classes other than early care and education classes (such as English, History, Math, etc.) to meet degree requirements: 

  • Complete 3 one-page article summaries on an early childhood topic. See the list below for suggested topics.
  • Complete the summaries for each semester in which you receive scholarship funds to attend classes other than early care and education classes, Choose 1 topic and summarize 3 articles on separate aspects of that topic.
  • Chose a different topic each semester in which a scholarship is awarded
  • Articles summarized must be research based and peer reviewed
  • Examples of appropriate sources for articles are: NAEYC Journal Young Children, SECA Journal Dimensions, LAECA journal Collaborations, Early Childhood Digest, websites of any early childhood professional organization or university.
  • Do not use Wikipedia as a source for these articles.
  • Include a copy of the article with each summary
  • Summaries may be typed or hand written, but typed is preferred.
  • Article summaries must be completed and submitted to Louisiana Pathways Scholarship Department by the due date identified in the award letter

CDA 1 Healthy and Safe Learning Environment

  • Playground Safety or Supervision
  • Room Arrangement or Environment
  • Obesity Prevention
  • Play and Learning through Play

CDA 2 Physical and Intelectual Development

  • Benefits and Learning from Nature
  • Increasing Cognitive Skills
  • Technology and Young Children
  • Scaffolding Children’s Learning
  • Interactions to Expand on Children’s Concepts
  • School Readiness

CDA 3 Social and Emotional Development

  • Guidance and Discipline
  • Environmental Effects on Children’s Behavior
  • Recognizing and Preventing Child Abuse
  • Cultural Diversity and Sensitivity

CDA 4 Working with Families

  • Working with Families
  • Family Involvement
  • Parent Conferences
  • Family Diversity

CDA 5 Program Operation

  • Selecting Age-appropriate Materials
  • Developmentally Appropriate Practice
  • Inclusion of Children with Special Needs
  • Using ECERS or ITERS (or other Program Assessment Tools)
  • Using Louisiana Continuum of Early Learning Standards

CDA 6 Professionalism

  • Ethics and Professionalism
  • Early Childhood Professional Organizations Mission and Benefits

CDA 7 Observing and Recording Children’s Behavior

  • Appropriate Assessment and Documentation
  • Comparison of Various Screening Instruments
  • Screening for Social/Emotional Development
  • Compiling and Using Portfolios

CDA 8 Child Development

  • Child Development
  • Language Development
  • Physical Development
  • Social/Emotional Development
  • Appropriate Assessment of Child Outcomes