15 Best Early Childhood Education Degree Online Bachelor’s Programs

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• West Vir­ginia Uni­ver­si­ty and Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming offer top online bach­e­lor’s in ear­ly child­hood education.
• These pro­grams typ­i­cal­ly cov­er key areas such as child devel­op­ment, class­room man­age­ment, and edu­ca­tion­al psy­chol­o­gy.
• Grad­u­ates can pur­sue careers as preschool teach­ers, child­care cen­ter direc­tors, and ear­ly inter­ven­tion spe­cial­ists, among oth­er roles.
• The best pro­grams are often accred­it­ed by rec­og­nized orga­ni­za­tions, ensur­ing they meet high stan­dards of edu­ca­tion­al qual­i­ty and effectiveness.

Get­ting an ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online is the most con­ve­nient way for work­ing adults in child­care and preschool careers to advance. Ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion is an unusu­al sort of edu­ca­tion career in that, in most states, a bachelor’s degree is not a require­ment; you can begin a job in preschool or day­care with only a high school diplo­ma or associate’s degree. How­ev­er, peo­ple work­ing in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion soon real­ize that there is a very hard ceil­ing, and that it approach­es very quick­ly, with­out a bachelor’s degree spe­cial­iz­ing in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion.

That’s why online ear­ly child­hood education(online ECE degree) pro­grams have become more and more com­mon. Busy work­ing adults in pre‑K and oth­er child­care set­tings don’t have the means to quit their jobs to go back to school, or the time to attend class­es on a set sched­ule on-cam­pus. Know­ing the chal­lenges career advance­ment presents to work­ing peo­ple, many edu­ca­tion schools at col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties around the US have set up ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bachelor’s degree online com­ple­tion pro­grams, giv­ing busy adults the oppor­tu­ni­ty to earn their bachelor’s degree on their own time.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Early Childhood Education Degree Online

To deter­mine the best ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion online pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter first searched for CAEP and NCATE accred­it­ed online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion. With a com­plete mas­ter list of every accred­it­ed pro­gram, we ranked ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bachelor’s degree pro­grams online with three criteria:

• Cost (IPEDs data)
• Rep­u­ta­tion (Niche stu­dent reviews)
• Salary Expec­ta­tions (Col­lege Score­card data)

With these three data points, BDC has tri­an­gu­lat­ed the best online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion, focus­ing on pro­grams that have the best of all worlds — inde­pen­dent proof of excel­lence, stu­dent acclaim, afford­able tuition, and a mea­sur­able return on invest­ment. That’s what makes the best ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online program.

1. West Virginia University

West Vir­ginia University’s online Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Child Devel­op­ment and Ear­ly Stud­ies, from the Col­lege of Edu­ca­tion and Human Ser­vices, is an ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion online pro­gram that pre­pares grad­u­ates for a suc­cess­ful career with young learn­ers. The pro­gram also meets the require­ments set forth by the West Vir­ginia Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion for Pre‑K cer­ti­fi­ca­tion. Stu­dents focus on the ways in which to imple­ment ear­ly edu­ca­tion lead­er­ship and advo­ca­cy. WVU’s online ECE degree cur­ricu­lum for the ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree com­plies with the guide­lines set forth by the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for the Edu­ca­tion of Young Chil­dren (NAEYC).

West Vir­ginia Uni­ver­si­ty is a land-grant uni­ver­si­ty that was estab­lished in 1867 by the Vir­ginia Leg­is­la­ture. It is cur­rent­ly orga­nized into 15 degree-grant­i­ng schools. WVU grad­u­ates include 24 Rhodes Schol­ars and 22 Tru­man Schol­ars. The Pro­fes­sion­al Edu­ca­tion Prepa­ra­tion Unit (at West Vir­ginia Uni­ver­si­ty) has been accred­it­ed by the NCATE (The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion), car­ry­ing on the essen­tial work of prepar­ing West Virginia’s teach­ers for any­thing that comes their way.

Degree: BS in Child Devel­op­ment and Ear­ly Stud­ies
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

2. University of Wyoming

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online pro­gram is a Pro­fes­sion­al Child Devel­op­ment Option (PCDO) offered through UW’s Depart­ment of Fam­i­ly & Con­sumer Sci­ences. This pro­gram is only avail­able through UW’s dis­tance-learn­ing plat­form. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion online pre­pares grad­u­ates as ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tors, admin­is­tra­tors, or to work with­in agency refer­ral net­works and child advo­ca­cy. Sev­er­al required cours­es sat­is­fy the guide­lines for the Ear­ly Child­hood Pro­gram Director’s Certificate.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming was estab­lished in 1886 by a con­gres­sion­al land grant. Its cam­pus, at 7,220 feet above sea lev­el, is actu­al­ly (quite unique­ly) writ­ten into the state’s con­sti­tu­tion. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming’s Out­reach School now offers degrees through­out Wyoming and beyond. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wyoming has been accred­it­ed by the NCATE (The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion), and as Wyoming’s only pub­lic research insti­tu­tion, UW’s teacher edu­ca­tion pro­grams are essen­tial to Wyoming’s pub­lic edu­ca­tion sys­tem. That goes dou­ble for the online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion program.

Degree: Pro­fes­sion­al Child Devel­op­ment Option
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

3. Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University’s online BS in Ear­ly Child Care (BS-ECC), from their Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege – the dis­tance-learn­ing arm of Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty — pre­pares grad­u­ates for careers in the many facets of ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion, espe­cial­ly for chil­dren whose fam­i­lies move fre­quent­ly. Grad­u­ates find suc­cess­ful careers in infant/toddler pro­grams, Head Start pro­grams, child­care cen­ters and after-school pro­grams; a vari­ety of pro­grams ded­i­cat­ed to young chil­dren and their fam­i­lies. Tech’s online ECE degree is a col­lab­o­ra­tive effort of sev­en uni­ver­si­ties in the Texas Tech system.

Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1923 and holds the dis­tinc­tion as the flag­ship school of the Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty Sys­tem. Orig­i­nal­ly intend­ed to pro­vide edu­ca­tion in tech­nol­o­gy and indus­try for West Texas — an area with no pub­lic high­er edu­ca­tion — Texas Tech became cen­tral to life, learn­ing, and cul­ture in the region. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed Texas Tech Uni­ver­si­ty, and Tech stands as a crit­i­cal part of the pub­lic edu­ca­tion sys­tem through its pro­grams like the ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion online degree.

Degree: BS in Ear­ly Child Care
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

4. Florida International University

Flori­da Inter­na­tion­al University’s online BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion (BS-ECE) comes from the Col­lege of Arts, Sci­ences & Edu­ca­tion. FIU’s ECE degree, which focus­es on devel­op­ment and learn­ing for young learn­ers, is com­plet­ed entire­ly online. FIU’s online ECE degree pro­gram pre­pares grad­u­ates for careers in child devel­op­ment, ear­ly edu­ca­tion and child­care for chil­dren from birth to five years of age. Flori­da Inter­na­tion­al University’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bach­e­lors degree online allows grad­u­ates to shape a child’s future by intro­duc­ing a love of learning.

Flori­da Inter­na­tion­al Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1965 and is cur­rent­ly one of Florida’s fore­most grad­u­ate research insti­tutes of high­er learn­ing. FIU is the largest uni­ver­si­ty in South­ern por­tion of Flori­da and is home to more than 56,000 stu­dents. In 2015, Kiplinger’s Per­son­al Finance ranked FIU as one of the top 10 best val­ues in pub­lic uni­ver­si­ties. The Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion (CAEP) accred­its FIU’s bachelor’s degree in Ear­ly Child­hood Education.

Degree: BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: CAEP

5. Kansas State University

Kansas State University’s online Bachelor’s in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion (ECE) is admin­is­trat­ed by the KSU Glob­al Cam­pus, but it orig­i­nat­ed in the Col­lege of Human Ecol­o­gy. Degree grad­u­ates are eli­gi­ble for the Kansas State Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion licen­sure for chil­dren from birth through kinder­garten. Stu­dents are required to com­plete 116 hours of dis­tance edu­ca­tion to com­plete this online ECE degree. Kansas State University’s online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree com­bines ear­ly child edu­ca­tion, spe­cial edu­ca­tion and ped­a­gogy concepts.

Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1863, under the Civ­il War-era Mor­rill Land Grant Act, which gave each state fed­er­al funds to set up an agri­cul­ture and engi­neer­ing school. It holds the dis­tinc­tion as being the old­est uni­ver­si­ty in Kansas, and there­fore a major force in shap­ing the state into what it is today. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty. K‑State’s grad­u­ates of the Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion under­grad­u­ate degree main­tain a 99% pass­ing rate for licen­sure exams, mak­ing K‑State’s name as one of the top accred­it­ed online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood education.

Degree: Bachelor’s in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

6. University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka, Lin­coln online Bach­e­lor Degree in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion in a Mobile Soci­ety (ECEMS) is one of the most unique and time­ly pro­grams of its kind. This online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion pro­gram is specif­i­cal­ly designed to pre­pare grad­u­ates for ser­vice to immi­grant fam­i­lies, mil­i­tary fam­i­lies, and as home­less fam­i­lies liv­ing in pover­ty. Pro­gram accep­tance requires stu­dents to have com­plet­ed at least 30 cred­it hours from an accred­it­ed 2 or 4‑year insti­tute of high­er learn­ing. The same fac­ul­ty mem­bers who teach stu­dents on cam­pus teach UNL’s online ECE degree pro­gram classes.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka is Nebraska’s largest and old­est insti­tute of high­er learn­ing, char­tered in 1869 as a land grant school. UNL’s influ­ence on the life of Nebras­ka has been incal­cu­la­ble — not only because of its research intro­duc­ing mod­ern agri­cul­tur­al sci­ence to the Mid­west, but its work prepar­ing the pro­fes­sion­als who make mod­ern life pos­si­ble, includ­ing teach­ers. The Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion (CAEP) accred­its the Uni­ver­si­ty of Nebras­ka, Lincoln’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online programs.

Degree: Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion in a Mobile Soci­ety
Accred­i­ta­tion: CAEP

7. University of Massachusetts Amherst

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts online Bach­e­lor in Ear­ly Care and Edu­ca­tion comes from their pio­neer­ing Uni­ver­si­ty With­out Walls (UWW), one of the most sig­nif­i­cant non­tra­di­tion­al edu­ca­tion pro­grams in the US. UMass Amherst offers a gen­er­ous trans­fer pol­i­cy for cred­its and has devel­oped cost-effec­tive ways to earn degree cred­its. Grad­u­ates are pre­pared for a career as a child­care cen­ter own­er, or with­in a pri­vate or pub­lic ear­ly child­hood care pro­gram. UMass Amherst’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online pro­vides the flex­i­bil­i­ty need­ed for stu­dents who must bal­ance their fam­i­ly, work and edu­ca­tion respon­si­bil­i­ties carefully.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts at Amherst was estab­lished in 1863 as a land-grant uni­ver­si­ty near West­ern Mass­a­chu­setts. It is con­sid­ered the Com­mon­wealth of Mass­a­chu­setts’ flag­ship cam­pus and one of the high­est-ranked pub­lic research uni­ver­si­ties in the nation. The UMass Uni­ver­si­ty With­out Walls formed in 1971 to bring dis­tance and exper­i­men­tal edu­ca­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties to work­ing adults and oth­er non­tra­di­tion­al stu­dents. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts, Amherst’s online ECE degree program.

Degree: Bachelor’s in Ear­ly Care and Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

8. Appalachian State University

Appalachi­an State University’s online BS in Child Devel­op­ment (BSCD) degree requires earned cred­it hours of 120, 60 of which must be taught at App State. Online ECE degree grad­u­ates are pre­pared to work with chil­dren, from infan­cy to kinder­garten. BSCD grad­u­ates have the tools to guide chil­dren through a piv­otal time in life that is filled with awe, dis­cov­ery and growth. Appalachi­an State University’s online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree includes field expe­ri­ences in the form of a Clin­i­cal Internship.

Appalachi­an State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished just before the turn of the 20th cen­tu­ry as a teacher’s col­lege with the cru­cial mis­sion of prepar­ing teach­ers for the under­served schools of the Appalachi­an Moun­tains. Today, App State con­sis­tent­ly ranks in the Top Ten of South­ern Master’s Uni­ver­si­ties by US News & World Report since 1986. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed Appalachi­an State Uni­ver­si­ty, which is known as one of the finest teacher’s col­leges in the South, includ­ing its ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online program.

Degree: BS in Child Devel­op­ment
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

9. Mississippi State University

Mis­sis­sip­pi State University’s online BS in Ele­men­tary Edu­ca­tion-Ear­ly Child­hood Con­cen­tra­tion mir­rors the same course­work as on-cam­pus stu­dents at the Depart­ment of Cur­ricu­lum, Instruc­tion & Spe­cial Edu­ca­tion. Fresh­men and sopho­mores begin by com­plet­ing course­work entire­ly online. By the end of the senior year, online ECE degree stu­dents will be teach­ing full-time as an intern. The online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion pro­gram offered by Mis­sis­sip­pi State Uni­ver­si­ty pro­vides a flex­i­ble and con­ve­nient plat­form that is acces­si­ble from just about any­where in the world.

Mis­sis­sip­pi State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1878 under a land grant and is rec­og­nized as Mississippi’s flag­ship uni­ver­si­ty, the largest and most influ­en­tial R1 research uni­ver­si­ty in the state. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed Mis­sis­sip­pi State University’s online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree pro­grams, a key aspect of Mississippi’s edu­ca­tion system.

Degree: BS in Ele­men­tary Edu­ca­tion-Ear­ly Child­hood Con­cen­tra­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

10. Georgia State University

Geor­gia State University’s online BS in Edu­ca­tion Birth through Five Years con­cen­tra­tion pre­pares grad­u­ates to teach or admin­is­ter ear­ly care and edu­ca­tion for young chil­dren in a vari­ety of set­tings.
Online ECE degree stu­dents can opt for a ‘teacher cer­ti­fi­ca­tion’ or ‘non-teacher cer­ti­fi­ca­tion’ path, depend­ing on whether their career plans take them to the pub­lic school sys­tem, or into pri­vate preschools and child care facil­i­ties. Geor­gia State’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bachelor’s degree online is reflec­tive of both state and nation­al standards.

Geor­gia State Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed in 1913 as a night school, and is cur­rent­ly the largest insti­tute of high­er edu­ca­tion based in the state of Geor­gia. It is esti­mat­ed that GSU impacts the met­ro­pol­i­tan Atlanta econ­o­my by near­ly $1.5 bil­lion annu­al­ly. Geor­gia State University’s stu­dent pop­u­la­tion is the most diverse in the state of Geor­gia, an impor­tant fac­tor in the suc­cess of GSU’s online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion pro­gram. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed Geor­gia State University’s ear­ly edu­ca­tion degree programs.

Degree: BS in Edu­ca­tion-Birth to 5 Years
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

11. East Carolina University

East Car­oli­na University’s online BS in Birth-Kinder­garten Teacher Edu­ca­tion (BSBK) degree, from the Col­lege of Health and Human Per­for­mance, pre­pares grad­u­ates to care and teach young chil­dren and those young learn­ers with dis­abil­i­ties or at-risk sit­u­a­tions. Online ECE degree stu­dents must be North Car­oli­na res­i­dents. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing with the East Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty BSBK degree are prepped for work­ing in pub­lic schools, edu­ca­tion cen­ters, and facil­i­ties ded­i­cat­ed to ear­ly inter­ven­tion. ECU’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion online includes prac­ti­cal real world expe­ri­ences in schools near the student’s hometown.

East Car­oli­na Uni­ver­si­ty was char­tered in 1907 by an act of the North Car­oli­na Gen­er­al Assem­bly as a teacher train­ing school, and it remains North Carolina’s most acclaimed cen­ter for teacher edu­ca­tion. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed East Car­oli­na University’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online pro­gram. The old­est school is the Col­lege of Edu­ca­tion. In 2016, US News & World Report clas­si­fied ECU as a Top Tier school in their nation­al rank­ings, as well as one of the best accred­it­ed online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood education.

Degree: BS in Birth-Kinder­garten Teacher Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

12. Ball State University

Ball State University’s online BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion course­work has been cre­at­ed to com­ply with the stan­dards of the Nation­al Asso­ci­a­tion for the Edu­ca­tion of Young Chil­dren. The dis­tin­guished fac­ul­ty teach­ing on-cam­pus at BSU’s high­ly acclaimed Teach­ers Col­lege also teach online ECE degree stu­dents. Ball State University’s dis­tance-learn­ing plat­form pro­vides flex­i­bil­i­ty and con­ve­nience for stu­dents seek­ing an ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online.

Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in 1918 when the wealthy indus­tri­al­ist Ball Broth­ers bought a for­mer teacher’s col­lege and donat­ed it to the state of Indi­ana. Ball State’s roots in teacher edu­ca­tion remain strong; the Teach­ers Col­lege grad­u­ate pro­gram is ranked by US News & World Report one of the best in the nation. The Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion (CAEP) accred­its Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty, includ­ing the online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree program.

Degree: BS in Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: CAEP

13. University of Southern Mississippi

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mississippi’s online BS in Child and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies (CFS) empha­sizes ear­ly child­hood devel­op­ment and qual­i­fies each grad­u­ate an oppor­tu­ni­ty to obtain their Kinder­garten or Pre‑K teach­ing license. USM’s CFS pro­gram requires 124 cred­it hours in order to grad­u­ate. USM’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bach­e­lors degree online tuition is the same for all stu­dents, inde­pen­dent of their state of residency.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mis­sis­sip­pi was found­ed in 1910 and is locat­ed about 100 NE of New Orleans. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed USM’s child and fam­i­ly stud­ies degree. Forbes has ranked USM as an Amer­i­can Top Col­lege for 2018. The Amer­i­can Asso­ci­a­tion of Fam­i­ly and Con­sumer Sci­ences accred­its the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Mississippi’s online child and fam­i­ly stud­ies, includ­ing the ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bach­e­lors degree online program.

Degree: BS in Child and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

14. University of North Carolina at Greensboro

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na at Greens­boro online BS in Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies (HDFS) is an online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree from one of the best online col­lege for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion in the nation. UNCG’s HDFS under­grad­u­ate degree takes an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approach that includes behav­ior and social sci­ences and ear­ly child spe­cial edu­ca­tion. Uni­ver­si­ty of North Carolina’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion online degree tuition is priced low­er than tuition for tra­di­tion­al class­es, although tuition varies based on a student’s residency.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na at Greens­boro was estab­lished in 1891 as a women’s col­lege though a leg­isla­tive act, with teach­ing as one of its main pro­grams. From that ori­gin as a nor­mal and indus­tri­al school, focused on teacher edu­ca­tion and prac­ti­cal train­ing, UNCG has devel­oped into a major pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty still ded­i­cat­ed to the needs of North Carolina’s pro­fes­sion­al work­force. UNCG has ranked as #2 in The Prince­ton Review as a ‘Best Val­ue’ pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty. The Nation­al Coun­cil for Accred­i­ta­tion of Teacher Edu­ca­tion (NCATE) has accred­it­ed the Uni­ver­si­ty of North Car­oli­na at Greens­boro, mak­ing it a mod­el of accred­it­ed online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood education.

Degree: BS in Human Devel­op­ment and Fam­i­ly Stud­ies
Accred­i­ta­tion: NCATE

15. University of Hawaii — West O’ahu

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Hawaii, West Oahu’s online BA in Social Sci­ences Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion con­cen­tra­tion (ESE) meets crit­i­cal needs for Hawaii’s schools. Degree Can­di­dates focus on edu­ca­tion­al the­o­ries and prac­tices for chil­dren aged from birth to 8 years of age. UHWO’s ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online offers dis­tance instruc­tion com­bined with teach­ing expe­ri­ences in real world class­rooms. A one-of-a-kind pro­gram, UHWO works with the Hawaii Com­mu­ni­ty Col­leges on this 2x2 artic­u­la­tion pro­gram; stu­dents in the com­mu­ni­ty col­lege com­plete an asso­ci­ate’s degree, then com­plete their bach­e­lor’s in UHWO’s online program.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Hawaii, West Oahu was estab­lished in 1976, the year of the US Bicen­ten­ni­al, orig­i­nal­ly as a degree-com­ple­tion senior col­lege. That back­ground in adult edu­ca­tion — and Hawaii’s unique sta­tus as a state made up of many islands — has led UHWO to devel­op a top-notch online edu­ca­tion pro­gram. UHWO’s edu­ca­tion pro­grams are accred­it­ed by the Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion (CAEP), giv­ing an added lev­el of rep­utabil­i­ty to the ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online pro­gram. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Hawaii — West Oahu has been rec­og­nized as a mil­i­tary friend­ly school, as well as embrac­ing the tra­di­tion­al Native Hawai­ian cul­ture and its traditions.

Degree: BS in Social Sci­ences-Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion Con­cen­tra­tion
Accred­i­ta­tion: CAEP

Are Online Early Childhood Education Programs Respected?

Attend­ing accred­it­ed online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion is a pri­or­i­ty for stu­dents who want licen­sure to teach in their state. Accred­i­ta­tion ensures the edu­ca­tion­al insti­tu­tion is pro­vid­ing qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion, fol­low­ing evi­dence-based stan­dards, and meet­ing guide­lines for fac­ul­ty qual­i­fi­ca­tions. Accred­it­ed online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion should have region­al accred­i­ta­tion from a Depart­ment of Edu­ca­tion-approved agency (one of the six for each region of the US). Most state licen­sure boards will not rec­og­nize a degree that is not from a region­al­ly-accred­it­ed institution.

Pro­gram accred­i­ta­tion applies to the edu­ca­tion school or col­lege itself; it is not nec­es­sary, as region­al accred­i­ta­tion is, but pro­gram accred­i­ta­tion is an impor­tant sign of qual­i­ty and account­abil­i­ty. The lead­ing accred­i­ta­tion for edu­ca­tion schools today is the Coun­cil for the Accred­i­ta­tion of Edu­ca­tor Prepa­ra­tion. http://www.ncate.org/ The CAEP began in 2013 with the merg­er of the NCATE and the TEAC, two old­er accred­it­ing bod­ies. As pro­grams accred­it­ed by the NCATE and TEAC come up for renew­al, the CAEP will become the stan­dard for teacher edu­ca­tion programs.

When prospec­tive stu­dents are look­ing at accred­it­ed online col­leges for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion and see either of these region­al accred­i­ta­tions, they’ll know the pro­gram is reli­able. When poten­tial employ­ers see that you’ve attend­ed a col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty that’s received accred­i­ta­tion, they’ll trust the edu­ca­tion­al back­ground you have. Instead of see­ing that you attend­ed an online school and ques­tion­ing it, they’ll trust the foun­da­tions and val­ues the col­lege or uni­ver­si­ty you attended.

Will Getting an Early Childhood Education Degree Online Increase My Salary?

Those earn­ing their ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree online will not only expe­ri­ence addi­tion­al job oppor­tu­ni­ties but also an increase in their pay. Accord­ing to Salary, the aver­age ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree salary is between $39,524 and $48,957 for those work­ing in fields includ­ing preschool teach­ers and exec­u­tive direc­tors. Specif­i­cal­ly, a preschool teacher jobs salary is $43,831 annu­al­ly. Preschool teacher jobs salary can expe­ri­ence increas­es with addi­tion­al train­ing and high­er edu­ca­tion. For exam­ple, accord­ing to Glass­Door, the aver­age base pay for ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion degree salary is $45,584 annu­al­ly. On aver­age, those who are work­ing as ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tors, they can earn a bach­e­lor degree in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion salary rang­ing between $36,000 and $58,000.

An ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion salary per hour depends on the career you decide to pur­sue. For exam­ple, Salary indi­cates that preschool teach­ers will earn $21.00 per hour and day­care teach­ers will earn $19.00 per hour. There­fore, when research­ing which field you would like to work in, also look at the ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion salary per hour. In doing so, you may find that a bach­e­lor degree in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion salary in a teach­ing field may be more opti­mal. You’ll notice that the salary ranges will fluc­tu­ate based on how long careerists have been with the job, their loca­tion, and how well they’re meet­ing expec­ta­tions. Those with high­er pay rates may be in more favor­able loca­tions and work­ing to meet or exceed expec­ta­tions regularly.

Do I Need a Diploma or Associate’s Degree to Apply to an Early Childhood Education Online Bachelor’s Completion Program?

In most cas­es, those who would like to apply to an ear­ly edu­ca­tion online bachelor’s com­ple­tion pro­gram must have their associate’s degree in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion. When stu­dents would like to earn their ear­ly child­hood diplo­ma online, on the oth­er hand, they only need their high school diplo­ma or GED. Earn­ing their online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion cer­ti­fi­ca­tion through­out a com­ple­tion pro­gram, how­ev­er, requires an associate’s degree in ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion because stu­dents will be fur­ther­ing their education.

Stu­dents who haven’t com­plet­ed this process yet can pur­sue an ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion associate’s degree through an accred­it­ed pro­gram. In many cas­es, col­leges or uni­ver­si­ties that offer an online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion bachelor’s com­ple­tion pro­gram will have artic­u­la­tion agree­ments with the com­mu­ni­ty col­lege sys­tem in their state, so stu­dents earn­ing their diplo­ma or associate’s degree can be cer­tain their cred­its will trans­fer to the four-year bachelor’s program.

Stu­dents also have the option of pur­su­ing an online ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion cer­ti­fi­ca­tion or obtain­ing their ear­ly child­hood diplo­ma online. The ben­e­fits of doing so means being able to work in the field quick­er. Com­ple­tion pro­grams typ­i­cal­ly take twen­ty-four months or less.

Relat­ed Rank­ings:
25 Best Ear­ly Child­hood Edu­ca­tion Bach­e­lor’s Pro­grams
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Top 10 Cheap­est Online Bach­e­lor of Edu­ca­tion Programs

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