By Madeleine Balliette and Amy E. Brown
Across the United States, students and professionals seeking a credential in early childhood education (ECE) commonly start at community colleges. Nearly three quarters of community colleges offer ECE training, making them a critical access point to the childcare workforce for those seeking associate degrees or looking to transfer to a four-year institution.
For those who earn a bachelor’s degree in ECE, the payoff can be significant, with higher wages and expanded career opportunities. Moreover, research shows children’s outcomes improve significantly when their teachers complete four-year teacher preparation programs. Yet, advancing beyond an associate degree has long been a challenge for many early childhood educators. They can run into financial barriers or a lack of aligned transfer programs, and the personal costs of pursuing higher education for educators currently in the workforce can be substantial.
The consequences of these challenges are reflected in state data. Childcare providers in a majority of states report increasing difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified early childhood staff. Available state early childhood registry data, which track educator credentials and education, show a decline in the share of educators with bachelor’s degrees and a rise in those with only a high school diploma or some college.
Illinois’s Strategy: ECACE
Illinois is taking a systems-based approach to addressing the decline in early childhood educators who have degrees. Rather than relying on short-term programs or isolated funding streams, the state has invested in creating transfer pathways and providing scholarships for early childhood educators through the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE).
Established through 2021 legislation, ECACE brings together 60 higher education institutions, including public universities, community colleges, and private institutions, with a shared goal of ensuring equitable transfer pathways from associate of applied science (AAS) degrees in ECE to bachelor’s degree programs. Originally designed as terminal credentials, AAS degrees did not align with the first two years of a bachelor’s program and were rarely transferable. Under ECACE, educators with AAS degrees can now enter bachelor’s programs as juniors, reducing time to degree and credit loss.
Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Members
Institutional Innovation and Continued Challenges
CCRC partnered with ECACE, the Illinois Board of Higher Education, and the Illinois Community College Board to conduct a study of AAS transfer pathway implementation. Findings from our study suggest that the Consortium model fosters cross-institution and cross-sector collaboration and is helping to smooth transfer pathways. Many institutions now accept more ECE coursework, award credit for prior learning, and provide clearer degree plans. Some changes (such as lowering GPA entry requirements) were required by legislation, while others were locally developed to demystify the transfer process and improve access.
In focus groups, we heard that the Consortium helps build connections between four-year to two-year institutions.
“I have way more relationships with the two-year colleges than I ever thought I would,” said a focus group participant from a four-year institution. “I think we’ve seen our institutions as being very separate, and the students are the connector, but now we’re the connector for the students.”
Many four-year institutions have also restructured curricula to honor AAS coursework. Four-year institutions have divided some courses into parts so transfer students don’t have to repeat the content that was already covered at the community college. In the example below, a pre-K to second grade science and social studies teaching methods course is split into a pre-K portion and a kindergarten to second grade portion so transfer students can complete the second half at the four-year without repeating content. These changes reduce duplication, shorten time to degree, and better value the expertise educators bring to bachelor’s programs.
Other important innovations include more flexible program designs and scheduling options, such as online, evening, and weekend courses. Some two-year programs have also made targeted updates to AAS curricula to better align with bachelor’s requirements. Together, these efforts are creating more seamless transfer pathways across Illinois.
Despite early progress, implementation hurdles remain. Course misalignment across institutions continues to cause credit loss and duplication. Students with credits from multiple institutions or those who have been out of school for an extended period often require time-intensive transcript reviews that can impede transferability. Many early childhood educators also need courses to be available during times that accommodate their work schedules, which can be difficult for institutions to coordinate across departments. In addition, some four-year institutions report conflicts between ECACE requirements and existing transfer or graduation policies.
Initial ECACE funding helped institutions adapt bachelor’s programs to better serve working educators with AAS degrees. However, $200 million of that funding came from emergency federal COVID relief dollars, which expired in September 2024. This loss has reduced Consortium institutions’ ability to provide advising and mentorship to students and to continue making improvements to transfer pathways. Institutions are now seeking alternative sources of funding and student financial supports to prevent AAS transfer pathways from fading away.
Looking Ahead
ECACE stands out for its statewide, collaborative approach to building lasting transfer pathways. Institutions are focusing on collaboration rather than competition as they work toward the shared goal of improving student success. So far, cross-sector collaboration has been a key driver of progress.
Sustaining early progress will require continued investment and coordination. Our study suggests that long-term success will depend on maintaining strong advising, strengthening communication across institutions, and using data more effectively to improve outreach and guide students. Early results show that coordinated statewide action can reduce credit loss, make degrees more attainable, and prevent students from having to start over as they advance their education.
