Montana has been moving toward a state-funded preschool program in slow, deliberate steps. After several legislative sessions where universal pre-K bills failed, Montana lawmakers funded the STARS Preschool Program in 2017 as a targeted grant initiative, and renewed and modestly expanded it in 2021 and again in 2023. STARS is not universal. It funds a limited number of high-quality preschool seats, primarily in higher-need communities, and pairs with federal Head Start and the state's Best Beginnings Scholarships for income-eligible working families.
This guide explains what STARS covers, who qualifies, how Head Start works alongside it, how Best Beginnings Scholarships can help with private preschool tuition, and what to do if none of those options fit. Plain language, current state numbers, and a worked example for a typical Billings-area working family.
Montana does not run a universal pre-K program. The Montana Office of Public Instruction administers the STARS Preschool Program as a competitive grant to participating school districts and community providers. Funded sites offer free or low-cost preschool to participating families, with priority for higher-need communities and for children at risk of academic difficulty in kindergarten.
The state's Best Beginnings Scholarship program, administered by DPHHS, is the broader piece of the safety net for working families. Best Beginnings is the federal Child Care and Development Fund subsidy, branded for Montana, and it serves children from birth through age 13 in licensed child care, including preschool.
STARS funds high-quality preschool classrooms at participating school districts and community-based providers. STARS-funded classrooms operate to specific quality standards, including teacher credentialing, group size, ratios, curriculum alignment, and developmental screening.
Participating sites have included programs in Billings, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Helena, Kalispell, Butte, Havre, Wolf Point, and several reservation communities. Programs vary by site in schedule, age range, and eligibility criteria, so check directly with the participating district or community partner near you. The list of participating sites is updated each grant cycle by the Office of Public Instruction.
Head Start is the largest source of free preschool seats in Montana. Federal grantees operate across the state, including on the seven reservations of Montana's eleven sovereign tribal nations, with separate American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start grantees serving the Blackfeet, Crow, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Northern Cheyenne, Rocky Boy's, and Flathead reservations.
Head Start serves three- and four-year-olds from income-eligible families, typically those at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty line, with a small share of seats reserved for over-income families and for children with disabilities regardless of income. Many Montana families qualify on income without realizing it, especially single-parent households and households with three or more children. Find the Head Start grantee that serves your county or reservation through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Head Start locator.
Every Montana school district must provide a free, appropriate public education for three- to five-year-olds with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. If your child has an Individualized Education Program, the district must provide the preschool services and placements specified on that IEP at no cost.
If you suspect your child has a developmental delay, submit a written referral to your district's special education office. The district must respond within state-mandated timelines, and the evaluation is free. The Montana DPHHS Children's Special Health Services unit handles the birth-to-three pieces.
For working families who do not have a STARS seat available and do not qualify for Head Start, Best Beginnings Scholarships are the most useful subsidy in the state. The program covers most of the cost of licensed child care for income-eligible families, with a sliding co-payment based on income and family size.
Eligibility runs up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level for initial entry, with a higher exit threshold of 85 percent of the State Median Income, so families do not lose the scholarship as their income rises modestly. The scholarship is portable: it follows your child to any participating licensed Montana provider.
For Montana families who do not have a STARS seat, do not qualify for Head Start, and are above the Best Beginnings income limit, the realistic alternative is private preschool tuition. Costs in 2026 dollars run roughly:
| Region | Half-day preschool, 3 days | Full-time preschool, 5 days |
|---|---|---|
| Billings / Bozeman / Missoula | $350–$550 / month | $950–$1,350 / month |
| Great Falls / Helena | $300–$500 / month | $850–$1,150 / month |
| Kalispell / Whitefish | $350–$600 / month | $1,000–$1,400 / month |
| Rural and reservation communities | $200–$400 / month | $600–$950 / month |
These ranges come from the U.S. Department of Labor's National Database of Childcare Prices for Montana counties and Child Care Aware of Montana. Bozeman, Missoula, and the Flathead Valley have seen the largest cost increases over the past five years as in-migration has tightened the licensed-care market.
A two-income family in Billings with a four-year-old paying for full-time preschool at a private center spends roughly $950 to $1,300 per month, or $11,400 to $15,600 per year, per the National Database of Childcare Prices for Yellowstone County.
If the family's income is at or below roughly 185 percent of the federal poverty level, Best Beginnings can reduce that to a sliding co-payment of $0 to $250 per week depending on income and family size. For a family of four near the eligibility ceiling, that is roughly $400 to $1,000 per month in remaining out-of-pocket cost.
If the family is over the Best Beginnings limit, the full private cost stands. A Dependent Care FSA at the employer can recover up to $5,000 in pre-tax savings.
Heads up. Montana child care licensing has been strained for years, and licensed seats are scarce in some communities. If you find a licensed slot, hold it. Verify with DPHHS that the provider's license is current. Operating without a license is common in some parts of the state and carries real safety and oversight gaps.
Montana's seven reservations operate tribal Head Start programs alongside or instead of district preschool. The Blackfeet Head Start, Crow Tribe Head Start, Fort Belknap Head Start, Fort Peck Tribes Head Start, Northern Cheyenne Head Start, Rocky Boy's Head Start, and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Head Start each operate under federal AI/AN Head Start grants with their own enrollment processes and program standards. Tribal members and non-tribal Montana families in reservation communities should contact their local tribal Head Start directly.
Because Montana's STARS pilot is below the NIEER threshold to be counted as a full state-funded program in some recent yearbook years, NIEER's quality benchmark scoring for Montana is incomplete. Quality oversight instead happens at the federal level for Head Start, at the state level for STARS-funded classrooms (with curriculum and credentialing requirements set by OPI), at the licensing level for private providers, and at the district level for special education preschool.
When you tour a Montana preschool, ask whether the program is accredited by NAEYC, whether it is a STARS site or a Best Beginnings participating provider, how long the lead teacher has been at the program, and what the staff turnover rate has been.
Is universal pre-K likely to pass in Montana? Several bills have been introduced and none has passed into a universal program. The most realistic near-term path is incremental STARS expansion through the biennial budget process, not universal access.
Can my child attend pre-K in a neighboring state? Generally no. Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota each have their own residency-based eligibility rules.
What about the federal child and dependent care tax credit? Yes. The federal Child and Dependent Care Credit on IRS Form 1040 can recover a percentage of qualifying expenses, capped by federal law.
What if my child has a developmental delay or disability? Submit a written referral to your district's special education office. The district must evaluate at no cost and, if your child qualifies, must provide preschool special education at no cost.
If you are early in the search, walk through our free comparison checklist and tour questions list before you commit to any site. Use the cost calculator to model your Montana daycare year. Read our how-to-choose-between-daycares guide and our daycare tax credit explainer.
For broader context, see the Montana state daycare guide, the preschool cost guide, the subsidized daycare explainer, and the DaycareSquare daycare cost pillar.
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