Higher Education Child Care Project

Higher Education Child Care Project (HECCP)

The Dean of Students team is administering a pilot project for reimbursement of qualified child care expenses through the Higher Education Child Care Project (HECCP) funded by the Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) Division of Child Care through federal Child Care and Development Block Grant COVID-19 relief funds. The pilot project end date is June 30, 2024. The purpose of the NAU HECCP is to provide qualified child care assistance to income eligible graduate and undergraduate student-parents (of children age twelve (12) and under) who are enrolled full-time or part-time in any degree pathway who attend NAU at the Flagstaff Mountain Campus, any Statewide location, or online.

Applications for retroactive reimbursements for Fall 2021 (October 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 only), Spring 2022, Summer 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023 and/or the full 2022-2023 Academic Year are now being accepted. Retroactive applications will be accepted through June 30, 2023 and the student-parent must have been enrolled at NAU during the term they seek reimbursement of their qualified child care expenses.

Review Guidelines

Submit Application

Submit Receipts

Eligible and verified child care expenses will be reimbursed to qualified project participants per allowable rates.
Child care providers must be a licensed or certified provider listed on the Arizona Child Care Resource & Referral website per the HECCP Guidelines.
Student-parent HECCP eligibility will be verified prior to reimbursement processing.
Summer 2022 and 2023 reimbursements may be considered if the student-parent is/was HECCP qualified in the term before (Spring) or after (Fall) the term requesting reimbursement. However, Summer 2024 will not be reimbursed as the pilot project will be ending mid-summer.
Any ADES child care assistance received by the student-parent outside of the HECCP must be utilized prior to reimbursements through this project.
Should funding become limited, priority will be given to Nursing, Early Childhood Education, and K-12 Education degree seeking student-parents. A wait list will be created for eligible student-parents not enrolled in the above programs if necessary.

Graduate and undergraduate in-person, online, and statewide campus students enrolled full-time (no work requirement) or part-time (work requirement) at Northern Arizona University in all current degree pathways, including undecided/undeclared students, and have dependent children twelve (12) years of age or younger.
Student-parents must have an annual household Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of not greater than 85% of the State Median Income (SMI) and be Arizona residents.
Child care expenses for legally dependent children ages twelve (12) and under must be from a licensed or certified provider listed on the Arizona Child Care Resource & Referral website per the HECCP Guidelines.
Children must be twelve (12) years of age or younger and be United States citizens or Qualified Immigrants.
Student-parents who receive ADES Child Care Assistance must provide a copy of their Provider/Parent/Guardian’s Agreement for Child Care Charges and HECCP reimbursements will be calculated minus all DES support.
Should funding become limited, priority will be given to School of Nursing, Early Childhood Education, or K-12 Education programs/areas.
At this time, approved retroactive reimbursements will be considered from October 1, 2021 for qualified student-parents who meet the current eligibility criteria.

The HECCP will reimburse eligible student-parents monthly for qualified child care expenses per verified receipts submitted by the student-parent per the instructions provided upon enrollment using the “Submit Receipts” tile above. Monthly reimbursements will be distributed four to six weeks from the submission of qualified receipts.
Only one application per household may be submitted. Students who apply will be notified of their acceptance into the project via their student email account.
Any changes to participants’ enrollment, contact information, child care facility, resident status, graduation status, employment (for part-time students only), ADES Child Care Assistance (for those receiving ADES Child Care Assistance only), and/or age of children must be communicated to ADES.HECCP@nau.edu during and after HECCP participation to ensure ADES reporting is accurate.
Participants and former participants agree to complete semesterly and year-end surveys to comply with project deliverables. Post-graduation employment is required to be reported to ADES, so all current and former participants must complete HECCP surveys in a timely manner.

Learn more about the HECCP requirements: HECCP Guidelines

NAU Early Learning and Development Center

Student-parents at the Flagstaff Mountain Campus are invited to enroll their child at NAU’s Early Learning and Development Center, opening March 2023. Full-day services are available for children ages three to five. Childcare scholarships are available for eligible NAU students. For more information, please view the Early Learning and Development Center webpage.

Additional resources

Students are encouraged to explore other helpful resources at Child Care Resources for Lumberjacks and throughout the Flagstaff community. Resource links:

Any State of Arizona child care or other ADES child care assistance must be communicated and fully utilized prior to reimbursement from the NAU HECCP.

NAU Child Care Assistance

Please view this Child Care Assistance chart for information on the various child care support programs available at NAU.