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TCC has a long waiting list, reflecting the ongoing demand for childcare within the MIT community. Families often wait over a year before being offered a slot at a TCC center on campus, and some do not obtain a slot at all (when children reach kindergarten age or families move before we reach their name on the waiting list). Therefore, we recommend that you apply as early as possible, particularly when applying for the infant or toddler programs on campus, and that you pursue other child care options in addition to TCC.  Please fill out the online application. 

If your family is MIT affiliated, you can get help with your child care search from MIT's Center for Work, Family, and Personal Life (see the bottom of this page for more information). Child care information is also available through the state’s Department of Early Education and Care, and the Child Care Resource Center in Cambridge.

TCC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, cultural heritage, sex, religion, marital status, age, national origin or ancestry, political beliefs, disability or special needs, medical condition, sexual orientation, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws.

 

TCC REVISED ENROLLMENT POLICY: Effective September, 2009

Technology Children’s Centers (TCC) were developed to meet the needs of the MIT community; enrollment policies are reviewed periodically and are subject to change.  The following enrollment policies, effective September 2009, will normally apply.

 

Eligibility

Enrollment at TCC campus centers (Eastgate, Stata, Westgate) is limited to:

• MIT active affiliates, defined as current employees; post docs; students in undergraduate and graduate degree programs; and visiting engineers, scholars, and scientists.
• a limited number of specifically named MIT-affiliated organizations.

Families must confirm MIT affiliation status at the time of enrollment.  Enrolled families are required to notify TCC promptly of any change in affiliation.  Families who no longer meet eligibility requirements for the TCC campus centers are expected to withdraw within 30 days of their change in status; families should work with the center directors to ensure a smooth transition.

Enrollment at TCC Linc is open to the general community.

 

Enrollment Priorities

In processing applications, the following priority system will normally apply, together with date of application:

• Level 1 Priority: within this level, priority will be given to a child with a sibling already enrolled at TCC.
  • Benefits-eligible MIT employees
  • MIT students enrolled in a degree program
  • MIT post doctoral associates and fellows
  • Employees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at MIT
• Level 2 Priority: within this level, priority will be given to a child with a sibling already enrolled at TCC.
  • Other active MIT affiliates, including visiting engineers, scholars and scientists
  • Employees of on-site contracted vendors
  • At TCC Linc only: Minuteman Vocational Technical High School employees
  • Whitehead Institute staff (non-MIT tuition rates apply)
• Level 3 Priority: within this level, priority will be given to a child with a sibling already enrolled at TCC.
  • Draper Laboratory staff (non-MIT tuition rates apply)
  • At TCC Linc only: community (non-MIT tuition rates apply)

 

Faculty Priority for Campus Child Care

In addition to the enrollment priorities listed above, the Provost’s Office has established and administers two initiatives to support faculty recruitment and retention:

• Faculty Priority for Infant Slots: As of August 2009, tenured and tenure-track faculty will receive enrollment priority for all fourteen infant slots at TCC Stata. Infant openings (ages 8 weeks through 14 months) will be offered first to MIT faculty on the waiting list before being offered to MIT students, post docs, staff, and other affiliates by order of priority.  Infant slots will be offered to faculty on the waiting list in the following order:  first to those identified by the Provost, then to the rest by date of application. 

• Provost Slots: Each year, the Provost assigns up to nine child care spaces on campus to faculty to support faculty recruitment efforts; Provost assignments are made by June for the following September; unassigned Provost spaces are given to faculty on the TCC waiting list, by date of application.

 

How to apply

If you are interested in enrolling your child at any TCC center, please complete our online application form and submit it directly online. Please also mail a $50 nonrefundable application fee ($100 if you are an employee of Draper Laboratory, Whitehead Institute, or at TCC Linc only, a community member) to your first choice center (either TCC on the main MIT campus or TCC at Linc in Lexington near Lincoln Laboratory.  If you are unable to complete the application electronically, please contact TCC and an application packet will be mailed to you.

You may use the application form to apply to one or all of the TCC centers for the same application fee. Because TCC is managed by Bright Horizons, you may also apply to two non-MIT centers managed by Bright Horizons at no additional charge.

 

Siblings

• Enrolled families must fill out a new application (no application fee required) with a new application date when adding a sibling to the waiting list, and will receive priority over non-enrolled families.
• Families on the wait list may add siblings to their original application.

 

Notification

Once your application has been submitted and your fee has arrived, you will be placed on the TCC waiting list.  Once we receive your application, you will receive confirmation.  Applicants remain on the waiting list until they enroll, their child reaches kindergarten age, or they ask to be removed.

TCC will notify you as soon as a space becomes available in any of the TCC programs you selected on your application.  If a slot is offered to you, you will be asked to schedule a visit to the center.  If you are offered a slot and decline the offer but remain interested in this slot or in another TCC slot at a future time, you may choose to retain your position on the waiting list.  When you decide to enroll, you will be asked to submit a tuition deposit equal to one month's tuition.

 

Enrollment

• Offers are made in order of application date and enrollment priority level as soon as it is known that a space will become available.
• The Director may hold a slot open for up to 30 days to wait for a child within the program to become age-eligible to transition into the space.
• Families are encouraged to reply to an offer as soon as possible, and within 48 hours.
• Families are given as much time as possible to plan for enrollment and are often informed a month or more in advance.  When less than one month’s notice is possible, a family may defer enrollment up to 30 days from the date the space was offered.
• No priority is given to a request for transfer from one MIT center to another.
• Families wishing to transfer must complete a new application form (no fee will be charged) and will be placed on the wait list and considered for enrollment according to general enrollment policies.
• Families must verify MIT affiliation status at the time of enrollment.
• Families sign an Enrollment Agreement at the time of enrollment, and annually in January.

 

MIT Child Care Scholarship Program

The MIT Child Care Scholarship Programs provide a limited number of scholarships to eligible MIT employees, students, postdoctoral associates, and postdoctoral fellows whose children are enrolled at TCC centers.  Applications are considered on a rolling basis and awarded upon availability of funds.  The MIT Administrator of Child Care Initiatives can provide you with information about MIT's scholarship programs at any time.  You must have been offered a slot at a TCC center before you can apply for an MIT child care scholarship.

 

Tuition Rates

Tuition rates are set each year through a process of evaluating center priorities and surveying local tuition rates.  Tuition rates for families who are not actively affiliated with MIT are somewhat higher than for families who are actively affiliated.  Higher non-affiliate rates apply to Whitehead, Draper, and other community enrollees.

 

Withdrawal

A minimum of 60 days written notice is required to withdraw from TCC. Without 60 days notice, a family will forfeit their initial deposit (equal to one month’s tuition) and be charged for any additional time that the slot remains vacant up to 60 days. A slot is considered ‘filled’ when the new child’s family Enrollment Agreement begins.

 

Other Child Care Resource and Referral Options

The Center for Work, Family and Personal Life offers child care information to help MIT affiliates find and evaluate local child care options, including child care centers, family child care programs, and in-home care.  If you wish to explore these resources please contact the Center at 617-253-1592 or visit the Center’s website at hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/.

 

 

Please contact us with any questions about the TCC Enrollment Priority Policy.