10 Best Early Childhood Education Bachelor’s Programs

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty is the #1 ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bach­e­lor’s degree pro­gram.
• Ear­ly Child­hood pro­grams focus on devel­op­ing skills to enhance chil­dren’s intel­lec­tu­al, social, and emo­tion­al growth, espe­cial­ly in their ear­ly years, which are crit­i­cal for development.
• Grad­u­ates can pur­sue careers in var­i­ous edu­ca­tion­al roles, such as child­care cen­ter direc­tors or ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tors, with oppor­tu­ni­ties to spe­cial­ize in work­ing with dis­ad­van­taged or spe­cial needs children.
• It’s essen­tial to choose pro­grams that are accred­it­ed to ensure the edu­ca­tion meets high stan­dards and pre­pares stu­dents for pro­fes­sion­al success.

Ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion is a crit­i­cal inter­ven­tion for chil­dren of all back­grounds. Many experts in child devel­op­ment would argue that the ear­li­est years of life are the most cru­cial for intel­lec­tu­al, social, and emo­tion­al development.

This applies par­tic­u­lar­ly to stu­dents from dis­ad­van­taged homes, under­served pop­u­la­tions, or with dis­abil­i­ties and spe­cial needs. Below, we name the best col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree programs.

Orig­i­nal­ly pub­lished in Sep­tem­ber 2022, our team updat­ed this ECE arti­cle in Feb­ru­ary 2024.

Accord­ing to the BLS, preschool teacher employ­ment is expect­ed to grow by 3% between 2022 and 2032. This growth rate is due to the crit­i­cal need for expe­ri­enced, well-trained teach­ers for a grow­ing population.

Those who grad­u­ate from ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion col­leges with an ECE degree have career out­comes includ­ing employ­ment as:

• Child­care Cen­ter Directors
• Preschools
• Fam­i­ly Ser­vices Sector

Those who grad­u­ate from ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion col­leges learn how to assess a child’s knowl­edge, plan instruc­tion, and teach in real class­room settings. 

More­over, stu­dents receiv­ing their bach­e­lor of arts in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion are empow­ered to become crit­i­cal thinkers regard­ing the cog­ni­tive, social, and phys­i­cal devel­op­ment of chil­dren. Most impor­tant­ly, ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tors devel­op a real-world under­stand­ing of how to col­lab­o­rate with chil­dren and their fam­i­lies in and out­side of child­care facilities.

Relat­ed Rank­ings:
15 Best Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion Degree Online Bach­e­lor’s Pro­grams
Top Online Edu­ca­tion Degree Pro­grams
Top 10 Cheap­est Online Edu­ca­tion Degree Pro­grams
15 Best Online Train­ing and Devel­op­ment Programs

Methodology: Ranking the Best Colleges for Early Childhood Education Bachelor’s Programs

To rank the best tra­di­tion­al, on-cam­pus ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion (ECE) degree pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter edi­tors did a thor­ough search of all of the CAEP and NCATE-accred­it­ed edu­ca­tion schools in the nation. That ini­tial pool – more than 500 schools – was then nar­rowed to those offer­ing ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion spe­cial­iza­tions. Pro­grams were then ranked accord­ing to 5 factors:

• Cost (IPEDs data)
• Employ­ment Rate (IPEDs data)
• Grad­u­a­tion Rate (IPEDs data)
• Rep­u­ta­tion (Niche stu­dent reviews)
• Salary Expec­ta­tion (Col­lege Scorecard)

With this com­pre­hen­sive set of stan­dards, BDC is con­fi­dent that these 10 col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties rep­re­sent the very best ECE col­leges in the US. These pro­grams are most like­ly to pro­vide grad­u­ates not only with qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion but also a real oppor­tu­ni­ty to make a dif­fer­ence – and a living.

1. Purdue University

Pur­due University’s BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion and Excep­tion­al Needs is a clear­ly defined, spe­cial­ized ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree pro­gram designed for stu­dents who want to teach young chil­dren with spe­cial needs or take on lead­er­ship roles in spe­cial education. 

Stu­dents receive thor­ough edu­ca­tion and expe­ri­ence in under­stand­ing devel­op­men­tal stages and needs from Pre‑K through 3rd grade. One of the best col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bachelor’s in the Mid­west, Purdue’s BS pre­pares stu­dents for two Indi­ana certifications: 

• Ear­ly Child­hood Generalist 
• Excep­tion­al Needs licensure

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the Midwest’s fore­most pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ties and the flag­ship of the rapid­ly expand­ing Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty Sys­tem. Found­ed in 1869, Pur­due orig­i­nat­ed as Indiana’s land-grant agri­cul­ture and engi­neer­ing col­lege; how­ev­er, the land-grant vision to pro­vide edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ty to Indiana’s peo­ple remains at the heart of Purdue’s mission. 

As such, Pur­due is the state’s leader in pro­fes­sion­al and tech­ni­cal edu­ca­tion, includ­ing the ECE degree pro­gram. This makes Pur­due one of the best col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion in the region.

Degree: BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion and Excep­tion­al Needs
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 69%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 82%
Deliv­ery: West Lafayette loca­tion
Cred­its Required: 120
Tuition: $347.85 per cred­it hour (exceed­ing 9 credits)

2. Indiana University — Bloomington

Indi­ana University’s BS in Edu­ca­tion-Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion con­cen­tra­tion degree leads to a dual Indi­ana teach­ing license for young chil­dren (i.e. infants, tod­dlers, and preschool­ers) as well as K‑3 classrooms. 

Two con­cen­tra­tions are available:

• Teach­ing All Young Learn­ers (TAYL)
• Ear­ly Child­hood Care and Edu­ca­tion Lead­er­ship (ECCEL)

Grad­u­ates are pre­pared to devel­op cur­ric­u­la for young learn­ers by build­ing upon edu­ca­tion the­o­ries taught with­in the course frame­work. Indi­ana University’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree pre­pares grad­u­ates to focus on each student’s unique needs.

Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty Bloom­ing­ton is a pub­lic research school and holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the flag­ship school of the Indi­ana Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem. IU’s School of Edu­ca­tion is a nation­al­ly ranked teacher’s school. The Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion (CAEP) accred­its IU’s School of Edu­ca­tion and the ECE degree program. 

Among its out­stand­ing fac­ul­ty is Rod Paige, a for­mer US Sec­re­tary of Edu­ca­tion. IU’s grad­u­ates are reg­u­lar­ly named the best teach­ers in the state of Indiana.

Degree: BSEd in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: CAEP
Accep­tance Rate: 85%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 79%
Deliv­ery: On-cam­pus
Cred­its Required: 122
Tuition: $687.90 per cred­it hour

3. The University of Utah

The Col­lege of Social & Behav­ioral Sci­ence offers The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah Ear­ly Child Edu­ca­tion under­grad­u­ate pro­gram – a BA or BS in Fam­i­ly, Con­sumer, and Human Development. 

The course­work for this ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree includes a sol­id foun­da­tion for those edu­ca­tion­al pro­fes­sion­als who wish to work with chil­dren from birth through five years old. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah’s BA in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion degree course­work includes child devel­op­ment skills, obser­va­tion and assessment.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah, found­ed in 1850, is the state’s Flag­ship Uni­ver­si­ty. The Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion has accred­it­ed U of U’s BA/BS Fam­i­ly, Con­sumer, and Human Devel­op­ment degree, mak­ing it one of the top ECE degree pro­grams in the nation. 

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah is nation­al­ly ranked as one of the most ide­o­log­i­cal­ly diverse uni­ver­si­ties in the coun­try. U of U’s 1,500+-acre cam­pus is home to more than 30,000 students.

Degree: BA/BS Fam­i­ly, Con­sumer and Human Devel­op­ment — Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion empha­sis
Accred­i­ta­tion: CAEP
Accep­tance Rate: 95%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 68%
Deliv­ery: On-cam­pus, Salt Lake City
Cred­its Required: 122
Tuition: $260 per cred­it hour

4. California State University, Fullerton

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Fullerton’s BS in Child and Ado­les­cent Studies/Development (CAS) pro­vides a con­cen­tra­tion in Ear­ly Child­hood Devel­op­ment (ECD) Option. This under­grad­u­ate ECD pro­gram com­plies with the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for the Edu­ca­tion of Young Children’s Pro­fes­sion­al Standards. 

Grad­u­ates are pre­pared to apply rich lit­er­a­cy and lan­guage class­rooms to enhance the ear­ly learn­er’s expe­ri­ence. Stu­dents choos­ing the option for a con­cen­tra­tion in Ear­ly Child­hood Devel­op­ment must com­plete 42 cred­it units, in addi­tion to the school’s bac­calau­re­ate require­ments. CSUF’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bachelor’s of sci­ence in Child and Ado­les­cent Stud­ies offers a Peer Men­tor­ing Program.

Cal­i­for­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty, Fuller­ton was estab­lished in 1957 as a small region­al col­lege. Today the school stands as a His­pan­ic-serv­ing, major pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ty with more than 40,000 stu­dents. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion accred­its Cal­i­for­nia State University’s under­grad­u­ate ECE degree programs. 

The Inte­grat­ed Teacher Edu­ca­tion Pro­gram (ITEP) is a spe­cial oppor­tu­ni­ty for stu­dents trans­fer­ring from a com­mu­ni­ty col­lege to CSU Fuller­ton. In only 24 months, ITEP stu­dents earn both a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Child and Ado­les­cent Devel­op­ment and a Cre­den­tial in Spe­cial Education.

Degree: BS Child and Ado­les­cent Stud­ies — Ear­ly Child­hood Devel­op­ment Option
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 59%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 69%
Deliv­ery: Fuller­ton loca­tion
Cred­its Required: 51 semes­ter units
Tuition: $396 per unit

5. Clemson University

Clem­son University’s BA in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion pro­vides degree grad­u­ates with more than 90 addi­tion­al hours of field­work that is required by South Car­oli­na’s licens­ing board. 

This under­grad­u­ate edu­ca­tion pro­gram pre­pares grad­u­ates for edu­ca­tion careers with chil­dren from birth to age 8. The pro­gram focus­es on ear­ly lit­er­a­cy as well as ear­ly math­e­mat­i­cal and sci­en­tif­ic devel­op­ment. Clem­son’s Bach­e­lor of Arts In Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion includes the edu­ca­tion­al areas of lan­guage arts, math sci­ence, lit­er­a­cy, and social stud­ies, among others.

Clem­son Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1889 as a land-grant school. In 2016, the US News & World Report ranked Clem­son Uni­ver­si­ty among the top Nation­al Uni­ver­si­ties. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion accred­its Clem­son University’s under­grad­u­ate edu­ca­tion degree program. 

Clem­son Uni­ver­si­ty part­ners with local school dis­tricts that offer degree can­di­dates a diverse hands-on expe­ri­ence with dif­fer­ent age groups. Earn­ing a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion allows grad­u­ates to either move for­ward toward career goals or to choose to earn their grad­u­ate ECE degree.

Degree: BA in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 43%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 84%
Deliv­ery: On-cam­pus
Cred­its Required: 124
Tuition: $889 per cred­it hour (less than 9 cred­it hours)

6. Oklahoma State University

Okla­homa State Uni­ver­si­ty’s BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion, offered through their Col­lege of Human Sci­ences in the Depart­ment of Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Sci­ence, pre­pares grad­u­ates to meet the devel­op­ment and edu­ca­tion needs of ear­ly learners. 

Stu­dents, upon com­ple­tion of the Teacher Prepa­ra­tion Pro­gram, become cer­ti­fied to teach Pre‑K through 3rd grade in the state of Okla­homa. Okla­homa State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a unique fea­ture found in only a few ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion col­leges, a devel­op­ment lab as a mod­el of the class­room to test and prac­tice edu­ca­tion techniques.

Okla­homa State Uni­ver­si­ty, which began as Okla­homa A&M, was estab­lished in 1890. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion accred­its Okla­homa State University’s under­grad­u­ate ECE degree program. 

OK State’s pro­gram in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion requires more than 1,200 class­room hours. Addi­tion­al­ly, this pro­gram is accred­it­ed by the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for the Edu­ca­tion of Young Chil­dren (NAEYC) and the Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion (CAEP).

Degree: BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 68%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 68%
Deliv­ery: On-cam­pus
Cred­its Required: 121
Tuition: $205.30 Lock Rate

7. University of South Florida

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South Florida’s BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion degree comes from their Col­lege of Edu­ca­tion. Upon com­ple­tion of the USF’s state-sanc­tioned pro­gram, grad­u­ates are eli­gi­ble to apply for a Flori­da teach­ing license for Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion which allows them to teach stu­dents from pre‑K through 3rd grade. 

Grad­u­ates can also attain their ESOL (Eng­lish for Speak­ers of Oth­er Lan­guages) Endorse­ment in addi­tion to their degree. An ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree from the Uni­ver­si­ty of South Flori­da can be com­plet­ed in a 5‑semester pro­gram for­mat, that is if a stu­dent choos­es to fol­low the cohort model.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South Flori­da was estab­lished in 1956. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion accred­its the Uni­ver­si­ty of South Florida’s under­grad­u­ate ECE degree pro­gram. USF has been acknowl­edged by the Carnegie Foun­da­tion for the Advance­ment of Teaching. 

Tuition for the USF Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion dif­fers and is con­tin­gent upon the student’s state of res­i­den­cy. Stu­dents in the Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion pro­gram par­tic­i­pate in three lev­els of field expe­ri­ences pri­or to a final intern­ship.
Degree: BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 49%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 75%
Deliv­ery: Tam­pa cam­pus
Cred­its Required: 120
Tuition: $431.43

8. Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University’s BS in Ear­ly Child­hood (BSEC) degree is a part of their Depart­ment for Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies. Course­work for this degree includes child­hood teach­ing meth­ods as well as the many facets of edu­ca­tion that impact ear­ly learners. 

These include pat­terns of cog­ni­tive, emo­tion­al, social, and phys­i­cal devel­op­ment. Stu­dents grad­u­ate ready to take the Ear­ly Child­hood cer­ti­fi­ca­tion exam­i­na­tion. Texas Tech’s Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion degree pro­gram encour­ages stu­dents to choose a focus that will allow them to move toward the spe­cif­ic pop­u­la­tions they wish to teach.

Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty, estab­lished in 1923 in Lub­bock, TX, is the flag­ship uni­ver­si­ty of the Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion accred­its Texas Tech’s under­grad­u­ate ECE degree program. 

In 2022, the US News & World Report ranked TTU, among the top tier of nation­al pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ties. The Muse­um of Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty is home to more than 3 mil­lion objects as well as the Moody Planetarium.

Degree: BS in Ear­ly Child­hood
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 68%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 62%
Deliv­ery: On-cam­pus
Cred­its Required: 120
Tuition: $298 per cred­it hour

9. University of Wyoming

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming’s inter­dis­ci­pli­nary ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion pro­gram from the Col­leges of Agri­cul­ture and Edu­ca­tion pre­pares grad­u­ates to edu­cate infants, tod­dlers, and preschoolers. 

How­ev­er, this pro­gram is not a degree pro­gram; it is an endorse­ment pro­gram avail­able to both post-bac­calau­re­ate and under­grad­u­ate stu­dents. UW’s endorse­ment pro­gram does not cer­ti­fy one to teach in pub­lic school kinder­garten pro­grams or pri­ma­ry grades. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming offers cost-effec­tive options for in-state res­i­dents when com­pared to oth­er ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion colleges.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming was estab­lished in 1886 — 4 years before Wyoming became a state. As the state’s only com­pre­hen­sive research uni­ver­si­ty, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming is crit­i­cal to every aspect of the state’s pro­fes­sion­al and tech­ni­cal edu­ca­tion, includ­ing ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degrees. 

The ECE degree endorse­ment program’s course­work includes a 6‑hour intern­ship, which is fol­lowed by an assess­ment to deter­mine the student’s per­for­mance against Wyoming’s Pro­fes­sion­al Teach­ing Stan­dards Board guide­lines. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion accred­its the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming.

Degree: BS in Birth to Five Endorse­ment
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 97%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 59%
Deliv­ery: Online & On-cam­pus: Laramie cam­pus and UW Casper
Cred­its Required: 60 semes­ter hours
Tuition: $2,490 per semester

10. University of Connecticut

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Devel­op­ment and Edu­ca­tion (ECDE) is a pro­gram offered through their Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies divi­sion This ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bachelor’s pro­gram pre­pares grad­u­ates for careers as preschool, infant, tod­dler, Head Start, and Ear­ly Head Start educators. 

UConn’s Ear­ly Child­hood Devel­op­ment and Edu­ca­tion course­work includes an oppor­tu­ni­ty to work with work­ing pro­fes­sion­als through inte­gra­tive intern­ships. UConn’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree pro­vides a stu­dent the chance to earn degree cred­its while expe­ri­enc­ing real-world class­room experiences.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut was estab­lished in 1881. The 4,400-acre cam­pus is home to near­ly 27,000 stu­dents. UConn holds the dis­tinc­tion as the best pub­lic nation­al uni­ver­si­ty in all of New Eng­land. Mon­ey Mag­a­zine ranks UConn 18th in terms of val­ue and is rec­og­nized as a ‘Pub­lic Ivy’ school on par with its Ivy League neighbors. 

UCon­n’s stu­dent reten­tion rates rank among the nation’s top pub­lic schools. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion has accred­it­ed the Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut’s ECE degree program.

Degree: BS in Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies — Ear­ly Child­hood Devel­op­ment and Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE
Accep­tance Rate: 56%
Grad­u­a­tion Rate: 84%
Deliv­ery: On-cam­pus
Cred­its Required: 120
Tuition: $681 per cred­it hour

Frequently Asked Questions