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Child care counselor education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a child care counselor. Child care counselors usually study psychology, criminal justice, or sociology. 62% of child care counselors hold a bachelor's degree, and 16% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 3,061 real child care counselor resumes to see exactly what child care counselor education sections show.
The most common colleges for child care counselors are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.
There are also many online child care counselor courses to help get the education required to be a child care counselor.
There are certain child care counselor certifications that you should consider. These child care counselor certifications include First Aid, CPR and AED Instructor and Child Development Associate (CDA).
What education do you need to become a child care counselor?
What degree do you need to be a child care counselor?
- Bachelor's, 62%
- Associate, 16%
- High School Diploma, 10%
- Master's, 8%
- Other Degrees, 4%
What should I major in to become a child care counselor?
- Psychology, 30%
- Criminal Justice, 13%
- Sociology, 9%
- Social Work, 7%
- Other Majors, 41%
Most common colleges for child care counselors
| Child care counselor common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Phoenix | 12.86% |
| Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | 10.36% |
| California State University - San Bernardino | 10.36% |
| San Diego State University | 6.07% |
| Edinboro University of Pennsylvania | 6.07% |
Best majors for child care counselors
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychology | 29.7% |
| 2 | Criminal Justice | 13.1% |
| 3 | Sociology | 8.7% |
| 4 | Social Work | 6.7% |
| 5 | Liberal Arts | 5.6% |
Best colleges for child care counselors
The best colleges for child care counselors are Northwestern University, Boston College, and Johns Hopkins University.
A child care counselor 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 care counselors. 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 care counselors.
1. SUNY at Albany
Albany, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$10,011
Enrollment
13,434
2. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
3. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
4. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
6. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,464
Enrollment
9,639
7. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Enrollment
16,205
8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
9. University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$10,595
Enrollment
30,184
10. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
20 best online courses for child care counselors
Advertising disclosure
1. 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...
2. Health for All Through Primary Health Care
This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...
3. [Accredited] Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Counselor
Learn DBT in depth, start conducting sessions with ready to use templates, and set up counseling practice within weeks!...
4. Providing Trauma-Informed Care
Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...
5. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care
This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...
6. 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...
7. The Key to Happiness: Self Care
Discover Self Care as a tool for creating positive change in your mental health, behaviours, and well-being...
8. Coping Skills and Self-Care for Mental Health
Essential skills to manage intense emotions and develop a self-care practice to promote mental health...
9. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course
The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...
10. Thinking About Care
Although all humans require care to develop and thrive, it is rarely the focus of academic studies. This course enriches learner’s understanding of this critical yet underappreciated facet of their lives by addressing such questions as: What is care? Who has traditionally provided it? How valued is care work? Does money take the care out of care work? In addition to advancing learner’s knowledge of the place of care in modern society and controversies surrounding it, Thinking About Care will...
11. Fully Accredited Professional Child Psychology Diploma
Learn or Specialise Your Therapy in Child Psychology with this Fully Accredited Diploma Course...
12. Certified Spiritual Counselor & Psychology EmpathACCREDITED
Use a humanistic, soul care approach using strategy, positive psychology, emotional/impulse responses & natural empathy...
13. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations
Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...
14. Pain Management: Easing Pain in Palliative Care
In this course, you will be able to develop a systems view for assessing and managing pain in the palliative care setting. By the end of the course, you will be able to: 1) Describe the pain problem in the palliative care setting; 2) Assess a person’s pain, 3) Explain the benefits of integrative therapies and pharmacologic strategies to manage pain...
15. The Business of Health Care
This Specialization was designed to help you keep pace with the rapidly changing world of health and health care. Through partnership with Wharton and Penn Medicine, you’ll learn from experts in business acumen, health care management, and health care policy to develop the skills you’ll need to successfully navigate the quickly evolving landscape of this fast-growing field.* By the end of this specialization, you will have a strong foundational understanding of the American health care system,...
16. Social Policy for Social Services & Health Practitioners
In the U.S., social policy accounts for two-thirds of government spending. Knowing how policies are constructed, what values underlie them, and how they succeed or fail makes everyone more effective at work or in their civic role. This specialization includes an HONORS track in which learners will complete a professional social policy analysis.\n\nTeachers, health care workers, police, and social workers interact with policy daily, but all of us should care about the impact and effectiveness of...
17. Health Care IT: Challenges and Opportunities
A strong argument can be made that the health care field is one of the most information-intensive sectors in the U.S. economy and avoidance of the rapid advances in information technology is no longer an option. Consequently, the study of health care information technology and systems has become central to health care delivery effectiveness. This course covers the modern application of information technology that is critical to supporting the vision and operational knowledge of the health care...
18. Caring for Others
Caring for Others examines how society cares for its at-risk members and the experiences of its caregivers. This specialization addresses questions such as: How much suffering is in the world today? Does digital media sensitize/desensitize us to the anguish of distant others? What are the different types of paid care work? How do care workers manage their emotions? And much more. This specialization is relevant to individuals interested in becoming a helping professional as well as anyone...
19. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative
Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...
20. Trauma Emergencies and Care
Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...
Top 10 most affordable universities for child care counselors
The most affordable schools for child care counselors are Hunter College of the City University of New York, california state university - long beach, and brigham young university.
If the best universities for child care counselors 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 care counselors.
1. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
2. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
3. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
4. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
5. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
6. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
7. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
8. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
9. Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$4,831
Cost of attendance
19,559
10. Minot State University
Minot, ND • Private
In-state tuition
$7,064
Cost of attendance
15,576
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for child care counselors
The hardest universities for child care counselors to get into are Northwestern University, Boston College, and Johns Hopkins University.
Some great schools for child care counselors 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 care counselors 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. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
Admissions rate
28%
SAT average
1,429
3. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
4. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,506
5. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
7. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
8. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
9. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
19%
SAT average
1,466
10. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL • Private
Admissions rate
7%
SAT average
1,520
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for child care counselors
The easiest schools for child care counselors to get into are Nyack College, mount saint mary's university, and kean university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a child care counselor 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 care counselors.
1. Nyack College
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
999
2. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
3. Kean University
Union, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
86%
SAT average
991
4. Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX • Private
Admissions rate
87%
SAT average
1,059
5. Notre Dame de Namur University
Belmont, CA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
983
6. Iona College
New Rochelle, NY • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,089
7. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
8. College of New Rochelle, The
New Rochelle, NY • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
982
9. Ottawa University
Ottawa, KS • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,024
10. Centenary University
Hackettstown, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
67%
SAT average
987
Average child care counselor salary by education level
| Child care counselor education level | Child care counselor salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $42,467 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $35,874 |
Child care counselor education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025