QUALITYstarsNY

What QUALITYstarsNY does

QUALITYstarsNY is New York State's designated Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for early childhood programs, operating as a government-supported initiative under the New York State Early Childhood Advisory Council and the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute (NYCEPDI) housed at CUNY. Its core product is a statewide QRIS platform that supports all regulated child care programs — including center-based care, family child care, and Head Start programs — at no cost, through individualized coaching from Quality Improvement Specialists, professional development and scholarships, data-driven quality assessment, and the Interactive Standards online tool. The organization also operates the MCCYN-PLUS (Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS) program module in partnership with the Department of Defense, which expands provider eligibility and lists participating programs on MilitaryChildCare.com so military families in New York can access federal fee assistance (federal rate cap raised to $1,800 per child per month). Headquartered in New York, NY, with 11–50 employees, QUALITYstarsNY is funded through federal grants (Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Initiative, Grant 90TP0019-01-01 from HHS ACF) and does not generate revenue from participating programs.

Name

QUALITYstarsNY

Legal name

QUALITYstarsNY

Website

https://qualitystarsny.org/

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

QUALITYstarsNY is New York State's designated Quality Rating and Improvement System, offering free quality coaching, professional development, and standards assessment to all regulated early childhood programs across the state.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Education Quality Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Quality Rating & Improvement Systems (QRIS) Administration (EDACAKAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Data Reporting & Outcomes Measurement for Regulators/QRIS (EDACAKAM), Program Monitoring & Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Services (EDACAKAL)

Keywords

• Quality rating improvement system
• Early childhood education quality
• Child care quality improvement
• QRIS professional development
• Military child care assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant-funded free program: QUALITYstarsNY is funded by federal grants (Preschool Development Grant Birth through Five Initiative) and participation is free for all regulated child care programs in New York State. No revenue is generated from programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

QUALITYstarsNY is New York State's Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), providing regulated child care programs (center-based, family child care, and Head Start) with free individualized support from Quality Improvement Specialists, professional development opportunities, academic scholarships, data-driven quality assessment, and developmentally-appropriate learning materials. The organization also administers the MCCYN-PLUS military child care fee assistance program and connects programs to military families via MilitaryChildCare.com.

Product overview

QUALITYstarsNY operates as a unified Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) platform for early childhood programs in New York State. The core platform provides quality rating and improvement support, complemented by specialized program modules including the MCCYN-PLUS military family child care assistance program, Interactive Standards for quality assessment, and an Academic Scholarship program for professional development. Programs access the system through a dedicated dashboard and receive individualized support from Quality Improvement Specialists.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• QUALITYstarsNY QRIS Platform New York's statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for early childhood programs, providing individualized support from Quality Improvement Specialists, professional development opportunities, data-driven assessment, and developmentally-appropriate learning materials to center-based, family child care, and Head Start programs at no cost.
• MCCYN-PLUS (Military Child Care in Your Neighborhood-PLUS) A federal military child care fee assistance program that enables military families to access child care fee assistance at QUALITYstarsNY-participating providers and raises the federal rate cap to $1,800 per child per month, increasing payments to providers and impacting over 48,000 military families in New York State.
• QUALITYstarsNY Academic Scholarship Scholarship program that supports early childhood staff to pursue degrees and credentials in early childhood education, available to staff working at participating QUALITYstarsNY programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• $1,800 per child per month federal rate cap for military families

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• New York State Early Childhood Advisory CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUALITYstarsNY is a project of the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council. The Advisory Council provides governance, oversight, and strategic direction for the statewide QRIS initiative.
• New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute (NYCEPDI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUALITYstarsNY is a project of the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, which is housed at CUNY. The Institute provides administrative infrastructure and operational support for the program.
• Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA)majorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAdministered the MCCYN fee assistance programs for DAF and USMC military families. As of June 2026, administration transitions to the MilitaryChildCare.com Fee Assistance Management (MCC FAM) team.
• Department of Defense (DOD) - Military Child Care programmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe DOD's MCCYN-PLUS program allows military families to access fee assistance for child care at QUALITYstarsNY-participating providers. DOD's MilitaryChildCare.com platform lists participating programs.
• CUNY (City University of New York)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerQUALITYstarsNY is a project of the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, which is housed within CUNY. Provides institutional affiliation and infrastructure.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• The Pennsylvania Key (Keystone STARS): Administers Pennsylvania's statewide QRIS (Keystone STARS), the closest organizational analogue to QUALITYstarsNY: a designated state quality rating system for licensed child care providers with tiered ratings, coaching, and professional development support.
• Parent Possible (Colorado Shines QRIS): Operates Colorado's statewide QRIS (Colorado Shines) on behalf of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, providing ratings, coaching, and quality improvement supports to licensed providers — directly comparable QRIS-administration role.
• ExceleRate Illinois: Illinois's statewide QRIS for licensed child care providers, offering tiered quality ratings and improvement supports. Comparable structure: state-mandated ratings system serving centers, family child care, and Head Start programs.
• Quality First (Arizona): Arizona's statewide QRIS for licensed child care and preschool programs, providing tiered quality ratings, coaching, and improvement resources. Operationally comparable to QUALITYstarsNY's statewide model.
• Texas Rising Star: Texas's statewide QRIS administered through Workforce Solutions boards, offering tiered ratings and quality improvement supports to subsidized providers. Same state-mandated QRIS function, different operator structure.
• Maryland EXCELS: Maryland's statewide QRIS publishing published quality ratings for licensed child care and early learning programs. Functionally identical role to QUALITYstarsNY in a different state jurisdiction.
• Early Achievers (Washington State): Washington State's QRIS for licensed early learning providers, with tiered ratings, coaching, and quality improvement supports. Direct functional peer operating as a state-mandated quality system.

Broad incumbents

• Child Care Aware of America: National nonprofit that supports state QRIS systems and child care resource/referral networks, and previously administered MCCYN fee assistance for QUALITYstarsNY. Broader scope but overlapping mission in ECE quality infrastructure.
• NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children): Sets the dominant national ECE accreditation framework that complements and partially overlaps with state QRIS systems like QUALITYstarsNY. Providers often pursue both NAEYC accreditation and QRIS participation.

Regional players

• BrightStars (Rhode Island): Rhode Island's QRIS administering tiered quality ratings and coaching to licensed providers. Directly comparable in function but operates in a much smaller state market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/qualitystarsny
• Xx.com/qualitystarsny
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/qualitystarsny

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about QUALITYstarsNY