Early Childhood Faculty Preparation (ECFP) Grant

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The Illinois Board of Higher Education offered a competitive grant opportunity for Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Consortium member universities offering master’s and doctoral programs for prospective early childhood faculty. The grant opportunity is part of the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) initiative. ECACE is co-led by the IBHE and the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, and Illinois Department of Human Services.

We are pleased to announce the Early Childhood Faculty Preparation Grant recipients:

• University of Illinois, Chicago
• Illinois State University
• National Louis University
• Lewis University

This grant represents the opportunity to create cohorts of diverse graduate students to complete a specialized program to become faculty in Illinois higher education programs in early childhood. Each of these programs has a unique program to offer to increase the number of highly qualified early childhood faculty in Illinois.

The grants to these institutions are provided by federal Child Care Development Block Grant stimulus funding through the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

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