ACCESS Program

The ACCESS Program is an initiative to help tenured, tenure-track, and senior non-ladder faculty meet their family care-giving needs while succeeding in their academic careers. The program is open to parents of children under age 13 who are benefits-eligible faculty on a regular Harvard payroll in the following ranks: Assistant, Associate, and full Professors, Assistant, Associate, and full Professors in/of Practice, Assistant and full Clinical Professors of Law, Senior Lecturers, Associate Senior Lecturers, and Senior Preceptors .

The ACCESS program has two components:

Priority enrollment component. All ACCESS-eligible faculty are prioritized for enrollment at campus child care centers. Faculty can apply to campus child care centers through any one of the child care center websites, and can visit Campus Child Care to learn more about individual centers. During the application process, ACCESS-eligible families are considered Tier 1A for enrollment. These faculty categories have preference for half of the slots in the child care centers operating on Harvard’s Cambridge and Allston campuses. Other members of Harvard’s community are also eligible for enrollment according to a tier system. If you have questions about this process, please contact the Office of Work/Life. (You will need to log in with HarvardKey to access the Office of Work/Life.)

Scholarship program component. Subsidies with base awards ranging from USD 4,000 to USD 24,000 (subject to required tax withholding) are available to ACCESS-eligible faculty and who, in addition, have a gross household income of less than USD 250,000. These scholarships are portable and do not have to be used in conjunction with campus child care centers. A complete list of family income eligibility, eligible ranks and job codes can be found by using the links below and through the ACCESS FAQ: Rules & Eligibility Guidelines.

ACCESS Program Highlights: ACCESS-eligible faculty families who meet these eligibility criteria will be able to apply to the ACCESS program: 

• have a gross household income cap under $250,000 for a single-child family, and
• have a child aged from 0-5 years to help pay for group-based or in-home child care and/or a child aged from 6-12 years to help pay for summer and vacation day camps, afterschool programs, and in-home caregivers.

Full program details and timelines can be found in the ACCESS FAQ: Rules & Eligibility Guidelines.

The ACCESS Scholarship component provides means-tested childcare scholarship awards. It is open to faculty who:

1. Are in the following ranks: Assistant, Associate and full Professors, Assistant, Associate, and full Professors in/of Practice, Assistant and full Clinical Professors of Law, Senior Lecturers, Associate Senior Lecturers, and Senior Preceptors (among Harvard Medical and Dental School Faculty, only those based in the Quad's basic and social science departments and on a tenure clock are eligible. Faculty based in the Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals and research centers are not eligible),
2. Have at least one child under the age of 13 (born on or after July 1, 2012), and
3. Are on a regular Harvard payroll, and
4. Have a gross household income of less than $250,000 for a single-child family (adjustments are made by the Office of Work/Life for single-parent households, including dual-career household arrangements)

Any awarded funds and the childcare itself must occur during the Harvard faculty member’s active appointment in an eligible rank during the 2025-2026 cycle.

Further eligibility requirements and answers to common questions can be found in the ACCESS FAQ: Rules & Eligibility Guidelines.

The ACCESS child care scholarship is a reimbursement program – you will only be reimbursed up to your award amount OR your total costs if these are less than your award.

Once you have paid for your child care and submitted an online claim form for these child care expenses, funds are paid to you via your paycheck according to the reimbursement schedule outlined in #14 of the ACCESS FAQ: Rules and Eligibility Guidelines. Please note that reimbursements will be added to the paycheck up to four times if online claims are submitted by the deadlines. The paychecks are October 31, 2025, December 12, 2025, March 20, 2026, and June 12, 2026. If you miss a deadline your reimbursement will be caught up on the next one in the schedule as outlined.

To submit your child care expenses login to PeopleSoft with your HarvardKey. Click on the “My Benefits” tile, select the “Child Care Scholarship” from the left-hand side menu and click on “Claim Form”. Add in the required fields detailing the expense (scroll to the bottom to add new blank rows as needed) and upload your receipts/statements or other documents that verify your expenses and dates of care.

Program reimbursement payments are considered additional compensation. This addition to your regular wages will be taxed at a higher percentage and represents amounts withheld for federal income taxes, FICA and FICA-HI, and Massachusetts state income taxes.

These awards are not “grossed-up” for tax purposes. Please see the following generalized examples:

Your award is $10,000 and you submit one online claim expense of $11,000 by the final deadline. It is approved and a payment of $10,000 is sent to payroll for processing. Your net amount, provided after required supplemental tax withholding, will be approximately $6,000 in your paycheck.

Your award is $10,000 and you submit one online claim expense of $7,500 by the final deadline. It is approved and a payment of $7,500 is sent to payroll for processing. Your net amount, provided after required supplemental tax withholding, will be approximately $4,500 in your paycheck. No more funds are reimbursed to you – you forfeit the unclaimed funds.

Your award is $10,000 and you submit one online claim expense of $5,000 by the first deadline. It is approved and a payment of $5,000 is sent to payroll for processing. Your net amount, provided after required supplemental tax withholding, is approximately $3,000 in your paycheck. You do not submit any more child care expense claims. No more funds are reimbursed to you – you forfeit the unclaimed funds.

For planning purposes, it is helpful to understand the implications of supplemental tax withholding on these awards and reimbursements. Earnings reflect the gross amount awarded and paid. The net amount reflects the gross amount of the award less the legally required supplemental tax withholding. For additional information or questions, please contact Mary Christakis, Director, Finance, Administration and Programs, 617-495-2785.