Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
Child and youth program assistant education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a child and youth program assistant. Child and youth program assistants usually study psychology, business, or early childhood education. 52% of child and youth program assistants hold a bachelor's degree, and 21% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 5,990 real child and youth program assistant resumes to see exactly what child and youth program assistant education sections show.
The most common colleges for child and youth program assistants are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.
There are also many online child and youth program assistant courses to help get the education required to be a child and youth program assistant.
There are certain child and youth program assistant certifications that you should consider. These child and youth program assistant certifications include Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) and Medical Assistant.
What education do you need to become a child and youth program assistant?
What degree do you need to be a child and youth program assistant?
- Bachelor's, 52%
- Associate, 21%
- High School Diploma, 14%
- Master's, 7%
- Other Degrees, 6%
What should I major in to become a child and youth program assistant?
- Psychology, 18%
- Business, 10%
- Criminal Justice, 8%
- Other Majors, 56%
Most common colleges for child and youth program assistants
| Child and youth program assistant common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Phoenix | 21.29% |
| Ashford University | 9.53% |
| Liberty University | 5.76% |
| University of Maryland - College Park | 5.54% |
| Texas A&M University - Central Texas | 5.32% |
Best majors for child and youth program assistants
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychology | 17.7% |
| 2 | Business | 10.3% |
| 3 | Early Childhood Education | 8.3% |
| 4 | Criminal Justice | 8.0% |
| 5 | General Studies | 5.9% |
Best colleges for child and youth program assistants
The best colleges for child and youth program assistants are Northwestern University, Stanford University, and Boston University.
A child and youth program assistant with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for child and youth program assistants. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become child and youth program assistants.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-state tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
2. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
3. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Enrollment
13,871
4. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
5. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
6. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
7. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
8. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Enrollment
9,142
9. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
10. University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$14,167
Enrollment
30,279
20 best online courses for child and youth program assistants
Advertising disclosure
1. Child Nutrition and Cooking
Eating patterns that begin in childhood affect health and well-being across the lifespan. The culture of eating has changed significantly in recent decades, especially in parts of the world where processed foods dominate our dietary intake. This course examines contemporary child nutrition and the impact of the individual decisions made by each family. The health risks associated with obesity in childhood are also discussed. Participants will learn what constitutes a healthy diet for children...
2. Child Care as a Business
This course is targeted toward individuals wishing to run a home-based child care center. It covers topics such as the fundamentals of an in-home childcare setting as a business; the importance of financial management of a child care center; the creation of a child care contract; and an exploration of how to set tuition rates. Since a Family Policy Handbook is essential for anyone operating a family day care center, this course includes the development of one of three imperative sections of the...
3. Fully Accredited Professional Child Psychology Diploma
Learn or Specialise Your Therapy in Child Psychology with this Fully Accredited Diploma Course...
4. Introduction to Child Psychology - ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE
Learn about child behaviour, parenting styles, relationships and socialising, cognitive development, counselling & more!...
5. Home-Based Child Care
This series of courses is intended to provide learners with the tools to develop and operate a home-based childcare center. Stages of child development, best practices to stimulate learning, important safety measures, and business fundamentals are introduced...
6. Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of Child Rearing
Everyday Parenting gives you access to a toolkit of behavior-change techniques that will make your typical day in the home easier as you develop the behaviors you would like to see in your child. The lessons provide step-by-step instructions and demonstrations to improve your course of action with both children and adolescents. Among many techniques, you will learn how even simple modifications to tone of voice and phrasing can lead to more compliance. The course will also shed light on many...
7. Learning Path: Haskell: Functional Programming and Haskell
Gain expertise of programming in Haskell — an advanced, purely functional programming language...
8. Basic Certificate in Health Safety & Environment-HSE Level 2
A comprehensive course for Safety Officers, Supervisors, Managers and Aspiring Safety Professionals...
9. Fire Safety and Prevention Planning
Become an expert in understanding Fire Safety and Prevention Planning for your workplaces and organizations...
10. Food Safety for Managers and Supervisors
The Highfield Food Safety Level 3 syllabus presented in two hours of video tutorials. Boost your food safety knowledge...
11. Safeguarding Children Level One
Safeguarding, Spotting Abuse, Sharing Concerns and Child Protection...
12. R Programming Hands-on Specialization for Data Science (Lv1)
An in-depth course on R language with real-world Data Science examples to supercharge your R data analysis skills...
13. OSHA Safety Pro: Hearing Protection Program
Your guide to preventing hearing loss using OSHA's Occupational Noise Exposure Standards...
14. Heal the Inner Child - Fully Accredited Course
Become a practitioner for healing the inner child. Heal past trauma and hurt from childhood. Discover your true self...
15. Child Psychology (Advanced Level) - ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE
Childhood development and behaviour, psychology theories of cognition, learning, and memorising, milestones and stages...
16. Project Based Python Programming For Kids & Beginners
Learn Hands-On Python Programming By Creating Games, GUIs and Graphics...
17. Fundamentals of Programming
Learn the Basics of Programming in 9 languages simultaneously: Java, Python, Go, C++, PHP, Ruby, C#, Java Script & C...
18. The Rust Programming Language
Learn a modern, powerful yet safe systems programming language!...
19. Programming with Julia
Learn the best and most modern programming language for data science, machine learning, deep learning and AI...
20. Reactive Programming in Modern Java using Project Reactor
Learn to write fast performing Asynchronous and Non Blocking code using the Reactive Programming principles and Reactor...
Top 10 most affordable universities for child and youth program assistants
The most affordable schools for child and youth program assistants are California State University - Bakersfield, california state university - long beach, and hunter college of the city university of new york.
If the best universities for child and youth program assistants are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for child and youth program assistants.
1. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
2. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
3. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
4. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
5. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
6. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
7. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
8. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
9. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
10. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for child and youth program assistants
The hardest universities for child and youth program assistants to get into are Northwestern University, Stanford University, and Boston University.
Some great schools for child and youth program assistants are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for child and youth program assistants based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
3. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
6. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
7. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,407
8. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
9. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
10. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
Admissions rate
17%
SAT average
1,507
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for child and youth program assistants
The easiest schools for child and youth program assistants to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, notre dame de namur university, and bluefield college.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a child and youth program assistant without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for child and youth program assistants.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
3. Bluefield College
Bluefield, VA • Private
Admissions rate
95%
SAT average
980
4. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
5. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
1,003
6. University of North Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
992
7. Gwynedd Mercy University
Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private
Admissions rate
92%
SAT average
1,031
8. Ottawa University
Ottawa, KS • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,024
9. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
10. Life University
Marietta, GA • Private
Admissions rate
94%
SAT average
979
Average child and youth program assistant salary by education level
| Child and youth program assistant education level | Child and youth program assistant salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $34,584 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $29,651 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $32,395 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $29,795 |
Child and youth program assistant education FAQs
Have more questions? See all answers to common community and social services questions.
Search for child and youth program assistant jobs
Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025