Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Scholarship Program

Program News

(last updated September 22, 2026)

2026-27 Program Funding
2026-27 Payment
2026-27 Awarding
2026-27 Certification
2026-27 Application

2026-27

Program Funding

The 2027 fiscal year (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027) appropriation for the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE) Scholarship Program is $5,000,000.

Payment

Important dates and reminders for 2026-27 ECACE Scholarship payment processing:

• As part of our ongoing efforts to best leverage appropriated funds to award as many eligible students as possible, priority payment request (claim) deadline dates are established for each term.
• Claims submitted after a term's priority claim deadline date will be paid only if funds remain after all timely claims have been paid.
  • The first-term (fall) priority claim deadline is Thursday, December 31, 2026.

An e-Message dated September 22 provides guidance regarding the submission (via the ECACE system) of 2026-27 ECACE Scholarship claims for awarded students.

By submitting a payment request to ISAC via the ECACE system, a college is confirming that the student is enrolled and continues to meet all eligibility criteria. If a college determines that an applicant does not meet all eligibility requirements, they report the reason for ineligibility via the ECACE system.

Due to limited funding, the 2026-27 ECACE Scholarship maximum annual award is the lesser of: $7,500 or the cost of attendance after other aid is considered. The maximum award amount that may be claimed during the academic year is populated in the "Max Annual Award Amount" field of the ECACE system. There are no term award limits for this program – colleges must determine the term award amount(s) based on other financial aid the student is receiving, keeping in mind that the ECACE Scholarship is last payer and can be used for any cost of attendance component.

Schools are encouraged to submit payment requests for awarded students as soon as possible. The timely submission of payment requests allows ISAC staff to monitor program funding levels and ensure that available dollars are best leveraged to award as many scholarships as possible without exceeding the appropriation.

Submitting payment requests is a two-step process, which involves generating the request and then submitting the request. Submit claims for individual ECACE Scholarship recipients via the "Student Detail: Payment" screen or in batches for a group of students via the "Payment Request Entry" screen.

Payment results are available in the ECACE system each morning. A Payment Result Summary and Invoice Detail Report can be viewed or printed by selecting the report tab in the ECACE system. The report includes Payment Results and Payment Exceptions as well as Invoice Detail about the payment claim. The Payment Results/Exceptions report should be reviewed regularly to see which requests, if any, did not process as expected.

The disbursement of funds is processed by the State Comptroller's Office. Allow four to six weeks for payment processing (i.e., from the date a claim is submitted until funds are received at the college). Refer to the State Comptroller's Website page for information on how to track payment.

For more information, refer to the following resources on ISAC's website:

ECACE Payment
ECACE Electronic Processing
ECACE User Guide

Awarding

As announced in a September 14 e-Message awarding has taken place for 2026-27 ECACE Scholarship applicants based on certification records that were completed by the colleges before September 14, 2026. Renewal and new applicants were awarded. Award notifications are being delivered to awarded students by ISAC. Colleges may access 2026-27 eligible award information, including funded or unfunded state, using the ECACE system. Award results may be viewe1d on the “Student List Eligibility: View” screen.

Certification

A July 9 e-Message announces that colleges may access the "Certification List: View" screen within the ECACE system to certify eligibility for 2026-27 ECACE Scholarships. A certification record is created in the ECACE system after ISAC determines that the ECACE online application process has been completed (this includes: the ECACE application; the corresponding year's FAFSA; and, any required documentation) and the applicant meets all initial eligibility requirements (i.e., requirements other than those that must be verified by the college). Only records that need to be certified display on the "Certification List: View" screen.

Further details regarding the certification process are provided on the ECACE Certification page, as well as in the ECACE User Guide.

Application

The 2026-27 ECACE Scholarship Program application remains available via the Program Applications & Status Checks area of the ISAC Student Portal.

Alongside the ECACE application, students are required to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) for the same academic year that they are applying for the scholarship.

The ECACE application and the FAFSA must be completed and submitted on or before the priority consideration date which, for the 2026-27 application, was Sunday, May 31, 2026. Applications received after that date may still be considered for an award if scholarship funds are still available after all on-time eligible applicants have been awarded.

Further details, including proof of employment requirements, are provided in the Application Procedures for the Early Childhood Access for Consortium for Equity Scholarship Program page.

What's Next

Colleges will be notified when 2026-27 eligibility data and certification functionality become available in the ECACE system later this year.