Learn & Grow is Alaska's voluntary quality recognition and improvement system (QRIS) for early learning programs. It places participating programs on tiered quality levels that build from meeting licensing health and safety rules toward higher staff qualifications, intentional curriculum, and family engagement.
If you are comparing daycares in Alaska and keep seeing star ratings or quality levels, this guide explains what Learn & Grow actually measures, who runs it, how to look a program up, and how the rating connects to subsidy — so you can use it as one input, not the whole decision. The framework comes from the Alaska Department of Health, working with thread, Alaska's statewide Child Care Resource and Referral network, with the federal ACF Office of Child Care setting the broader QRIS structure that states follow.
Learn & Grow is Alaska's voluntary quality rating and improvement system, known as a QRIS. Administered by the Alaska Department of Health, it rates participating licensed centers and family child care homes on a tiered set of quality levels. Higher ratings signal stronger staff qualifications, learning environments, and program administration, per the Alaska Department of Health and the federal ACF Office of Child Care.
A QRIS does two jobs at once. It rates programs so families can compare them, and it improves programs by pairing each rating with coaching, training, and sometimes funding. Alaska adopted this model, like most states, with support from the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administered by the ACF Office of Child Care.
The rating climbs as a program does more than the licensing minimum. The lowest rung means the program is licensed and in good standing; the highest level means it has met the most demanding benchmarks for teacher education, curriculum, child-to-staff ratios, and family engagement. The table below shows the dimensions the Alaska Department of Health weighs, drawn from its Learn & Grow standards.
| What the rating measures | What a higher rating looks like |
|---|---|
| Licensing & health and safety | Active license in good standing with the Alaska Department of Health; clean inspection and background-check history as the entry requirement. |
| Staff qualifications & training | Lead teachers with more early-childhood coursework, credentials, or degrees, plus ongoing professional development. |
| Learning environment & curriculum | A research-based curriculum and an independent classroom assessment (such as the ERS or CLASS observation tools). |
| Ratios & group size | Smaller groups and lower child-to-staff ratios than the licensing floor requires. |
| Family engagement & administration | Family conferences, developmental screening, and stronger business and leadership practices. |
Exact point thresholds and the number of tiers are set by the Alaska Department of Health; confirm the current Learn & Grow standards on its website, because states revise QRIS rubrics periodically.
Use the official Learn & Grow provider locator from the Alaska Department of Health to find a program's current rating, then cross-check its license status on the Alaska child care licensing search. Treat the rating as one verified data point alongside your own tour, because ratings can lag a program's real, day-to-day conditions by a year or more.
Honest tradeoff. A QRIS rating is genuinely useful, but it is voluntary and imperfect. Many excellent Alaska programs never enroll in Learn & Grow, and a rating can be a year or more behind reality. Use it to narrow your list, never to replace a visit.
The rating does not set tuition, which each program decides on its own. But in Alaska, a higher Learn & Grow rating can qualify a provider for higher subsidy reimbursement through the Alaska Child Care Assistance Program, a structure the ACF Office of Child Care encourages under the Child Care and Development Fund. For national context, ChildCare Aware of America's 2024 Price of Child Care report put center-based care at roughly $8,000 to $24,000 per year depending on age and state.
For Alaska-specific figures, see our daycare cost guide and estimate your own with the cost calculator. If you may qualify for help paying, the Alaska Child Care Assistance Program is the place to start.
Learn & Grow is Alaska's voluntary quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for licensed child care. Administered by the Alaska Department of Health, it rates participating programs on a tiered set of quality levels, with higher ratings reflecting stronger staff training, curriculum, and program management, per the federal ACF Office of Child Care.
No. Learn & Grow participation is voluntary, so an unrated daycare is not automatically low quality — it may simply have chosen not to enroll. State licensing through the Alaska Department of Health is the mandatory baseline; the QRIS rating sits on top of it.
Search the Learn & Grow provider locator published by the Alaska Department of Health, then confirm the program's separate license status on the Alaska child care licensing search. Ratings can lag real conditions, so pair the rating with your own tour.
Not directly from the rating itself. Tuition is set by each program, but higher-rated providers in Alaska can qualify for higher subsidy reimbursement through the Alaska Child Care Assistance Program, per the ACF Office of Child Care. Center care nationally runs roughly $8,000–$24,000 per year, per ChildCare Aware of America's 2024 Price of Child Care report.
For the full picture in your state, see the Alaska daycare guide, which covers licensing, subsidy, and pre-K. Our daycare quality and safety pillar explains accreditation, ratios, and what to look for on a tour.
Comparing how other states rate quality? Read our explainers on Alabama Quality STARS, Quality First, Better Beginnings.
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