Teacher Eligibility

Building Careers

To be eligible and to maintain eligibility for the Building Careers program, students must:

1. Be a Massachusetts resident and U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen;
2. Work in an EEC-funded, EEC licensed or license-exempt early education and care or out-of-school time program (i.e., group child care, family child care, school age child care, or Head Start program);
3. Be able to meet college entrance requirements; students who are unable to meet admissions requirements may be able to participate in the program if they will be participating in developmental coursework and supports offered through the grant. Students participating in developmental coursework must be willing to enroll in a degree program once they are able to matriculate; students must be literate in their native language to participate in developmental coursework supported by the Building Careers grant. Students will need to develop a professional development plan and benchmarks to determine if they are making satisfactory progress and when they will be able to matriculate into a degree program;
4. Agree to meet with an academic advisor for career/academic counseling;
5. Agree to complete student data forms and share directory information with Building Careers Coordinator and EEC;
6. Maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or above;
7. Participate in work-site observations and supervision meetings (if applicable);
8. Agree to support other costs associated with course such as books, materials, etc. (if applicable);
9. Agree to not use multiple funding sources to supersede the actual cost of the course; and  
10. Agree to remain in the field of early education and care or out-of-school time for 6 months for every semester that funding from the Building Careers programs is received. Students who fail to comply with this requirement may be required to pay for financial assistance received through the grant program.
11. Students participating in the Building Careers grant program will be required to complete and sign a Building Careers Terms and Conditions form that will be kept on file at the institution; form must be completed by all educators participating in the Building Careers program on an annual basis. 

Please note: In response to the concerns expressed by Building Careers Coordinators the eligibility requirement that educators must have taken a 3-credit college course in Child, Growth, and Development has been eliminated in the FY2010 grant application.