Child Care Tuition Assistance Program (CCTAP)

Current students can use the CCTAP Portal Eligibility/Award Calculator to determine if they meet basic eligibility requirements and view a preliminary award estimate.

Prospective students without a UW NetID may contact our office at occfr@provost.wisc.edu to check their eligibility and receive an award estimate.

If the Award Calculator determines that you are ineligible, we still encourage you to submit an application for CCTAP as special circumstances may exist.

You must re-apply for CCTAP each semester you wish to receive funding! Applications are available online in the CCTAP Portal 5-6 weeks prior to first day of the next semester. Your CCTAP application cannot be finalized until you have a CONFIRMED space at an approved child care provider. See Finding Child Care.

To complete the application, you will need:

• Student ID
• Employment or school information for spouse/partner, if applicable
• Most recent income/tax forms if required to file. Income forms only need to be submitted one per academic year, which restarts in the summer. 
• Before your application is approved, we will contact you to verify an original birth certificate or passport for each child in care.

If you are found ineligible, or if your family is experiencing extenuating circumstances, you may submit an appeal through your online CCTAP account. Appeals are reviewed on a rolling basis. All appeal decisions are final.

View your award letter

Once your application has been approved, you will receive a CCTAP Award Letter Notification via email. You can view your CCTAP Award Letter in your CCTAP Portal. The Award Letter will contain the semester award amount that is allocated for your family.

Create a payment plan with your child care provider

Next, please show your CCTAP Award Letter to your child care provider(s) as early as possible in order to agree upon a payment plan. Payment plans are determined by the provider. Many providers will subtract the CCTAP award amount from your total semester fees and create a monthly or weekly co-pay to cover the remaining balance. Or, your provider may ask you to pay up front and will reimburse you after they receive payment from us.

Please note that payments are always sent directly to the child care provider at the end of the semester, once we verify your enrollment status after the last class drop deadline.

If there are changes to the information on your original application, you may see a change in your award. It is your responsibility to notify CCTAP staff of any changes to the information on your application, including:

• Changing child care providers
• Reducing the number of weeks in care
• Dropping a class/dropping from Full-time enrollment to Part-time or less than Part-time enrollment
• Changes to family status

Failure to notify our staff could result in a reduction or loss of funding for the current semester, or potentially impact future eligibility for the program.

Your CCTAP invoice is a financial document that your provider will fill out to summarize your child care expenses so we can process your payment.

We will send your CCTAP invoice to your child care provider to complete 5-6 weeks before the end of the semester. You will then need to review the form for accuracy, sign and return to our office by the deadline.

After you return the completed, signed invoice, we will process your invoice for payment. Payments are sent from UW Accounting directly to your child care provider via the payment method they have chosen. Payment takes approximately 30 days to arrive.

Students are responsible for confirming that their provider has received the CCTAP award payment and either 1) posted the amount to the student’s account or 2) issued a reimbursement or credit. You are required to notify OCCFR within 60 days of the invoice payment date recorded in your CCTAP Portal if there is a delay in receiving a reimbursement or credit.