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Benefits-eligible Harvard employees are eligible for a dependent-care flexible spending account that allows them to set aside up to $5,000 on a pre-tax basis to pay for eligible expenses associated with the care of a dependent child or adult so that they (and their spouse/partner) may work, attend school, or seek employment.
Harvard employees may be eligible for one of several child care scholarship programs. Each year, these programs make limited funds available, based on need, to eligible employees to help defray the cost of child care. Harvard employees with an HUID and PIN may visit HARVie for detailed information on eligibility, deadlines and the application process. For prospective and incoming employees who do not yet have a Harvard ID number and PIN, basic program information is as follows:
- Only employees who are on a regular Harvard payroll and are fully benefits-eligible may apply. If you have a question about your status, please contact your HR representative or program administrator.
- Applications are reviewed based on household income. Employees are required to submit tax and salary documentation.
- Application deadlines are generally once per year, and are communicated to all employees. If you have questions about upcoming application dates, please email worklife@harvard.edu.
- The scholarship program makes payments on a reimbursement basis. Employees pay for their child care and then submit cost information to the program.
- Scholarships are awarded and disbursed to employees on a fiscal-year basis (July 1 to June 30).
- Scholarship awards vary from family to family and year to year. Awards can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on a family’s financial need and a range of other factors. We emphasize that families should not make ongoing child care decisions based on past awards or the potential for a scholarship. We encourage families to think of child care scholarships as helping to defray costs that they would be prepared to pay for regardless of an award.
- Awards are taxable income and taxes are withheld at a rate determined by the IRS (36% for FY2012).
Harvard ladder faculty (assistant, associate, and full professors) may be eligible for the Ladder ACCESS program. It makes significant awards available to income-eligible parents of children under the age of six in child care. For more information, please visit the Office of Faculty Development and Diversity website.
For information on financial aid for child care available to eligible Massachusetts families, visit the website of the Child Care Resource Center and download its Financial Assistance Document or call its Parent InfoLINE at 617-547-1063, ext. 72, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., EST.
For information about child care subsidies in Cambridge, call Cambridge Community Partnerships for Children at 617-547-1063, ext. 212, or the Cambridge Department of Human Service Programs at 617-349-6254.
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