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Child care provider education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a child care provider. Child care providers usually study business, psychology, or general studies. 34% of child care providers hold a bachelor's degree, and 29% hold an high school diploma. We analyzed 22,018 real child care provider resumes to see exactly what child care provider education sections show.
The most common colleges for child care providers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.
There are also many online child care provider courses to help get the education required to be a child care provider.
There are certain child care provider certifications that you should consider. These child care provider certifications include Child Development Associate (CDA) and First Aid, CPR and AED Instructor.
What education do you need to become a child care provider?
What degree do you need to be a child care provider?
- Bachelor's, 34%
- High School Diploma, 29%
- Associate, 21%
- Diploma, 8%
- Other Degrees, 8%
What should I major in to become a child care provider?
- Business, 14%
- Psychology, 11%
- General Studies, 7%
- Other Majors, 61%
Most common colleges for child care providers
| Child care provider common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Phoenix | 24.61% |
| Monroe College | 7.92% |
| Ashford University | 7.23% |
| Liberty University | 4.82% |
| American InterContinental University | 4.48% |
Best majors for child care providers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Business | 14.0% |
| 2 | Psychology | 11.3% |
| 3 | General Studies | 7.4% |
| 4 | Early Childhood Education | 7.2% |
| 5 | Nursing | 6.3% |
Best colleges for child care providers
The best colleges for child care providers are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt University.
A child care provider 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 providers. 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 providers.
1. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
2. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Enrollment
9,142
3. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
4. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,488
Enrollment
30,018
5. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
In-state tuition
$14,760
Enrollment
31,451
6. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
7. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
8. Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$3,926
Enrollment
9,835
9. SUNY College at Plattsburgh
Plattsburgh, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,369
Enrollment
5,229
10. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
In-state tuition
$17,653
Enrollment
16,405
20 best online courses for child care providers
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. 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...
3. Providing Trauma-Informed Care
Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...
4. The Key to Happiness: Self Care
Discover Self Care as a tool for creating positive change in your mental health, behaviours, and well-being...
5. 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...
6. 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...
7. Fully Accredited Professional Child Psychology Diploma
Learn or Specialise Your Therapy in Child Psychology with this Fully Accredited Diploma Course...
8. Self-Care Life Coach Certification (Boundary Setting)
Empower Your Life Coach Your Clients to Develop Self-Care, Self-Love, Boundary Setting and How to Say No...
9. 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...
10. 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...
11. Introduction to Child Psychology - ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE
Learn about child behaviour, parenting styles, relationships and socialising, cognitive development, counselling & more!...
12. Social Media for Healthcare Providers
Social media and HIPPA compliance training for covered entities that transmit health information...
13. Kids with Cancer Still Need School: The Providers Role
This course will help you understand and address the challenges parents and families face regarding schooling after a cancer diagnosis. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, families can be overwhelmed learning about and managing this new and frightening reality. As they adjust to the new normal of ongoing treatment, school may be the farthest thing from their mind. However, as their oncology health care provider, you have a critical role in starting conversations about schooling. Even for...
14. Palliative Care Always
Palliative Care Always is a specialization for health care practitioners, patients and caregivers. We’ve designed this specialization to demonstrate how palliative medicine integrates with patient care, and to help you develop primary palliative care skills. Over the next five courses, you will develop skills in symptom management, goals of care and effective communication to improve the quality of life for patients and families suffering with serious illness. Our hope is that you feel...
15. 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...
16. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children
Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...
17. 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...
18. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers
This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...
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 providers
The most affordable schools for child care providers are California State University - Bakersfield, suny farmingdale, and university of florida.
If the best universities for child care providers 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 providers.
1. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
2. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,306
Cost of attendance
16,091
3. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
4. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
5. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
6. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
7. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
8. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
9. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
In-state tuition
$9,992
Cost of attendance
22,430
10. California State University - Northridge
Northridge, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,893
Cost of attendance
18,870
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for child care providers
The hardest universities for child care providers to get into are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt University.
Some great schools for child care providers 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 providers 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. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
3. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
4. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
5. University of Rochester
Rochester, NY • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,422
6. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
7. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
Admissions rate
26%
SAT average
1,427
8. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
9. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
Admissions rate
40%
SAT average
1,376
10. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for child care providers
The easiest schools for child care providers to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, holy names university, and oklahoma wesleyan university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a child care provider 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 providers.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
3. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
4. La Roche College
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
Admissions rate
99%
SAT average
1,008
5. Ottawa University
Ottawa, KS • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,024
6. Pennsylvania State University - Worthington Scranton
Dunmore, PA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
1,056
7. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
8. The University of Texas Permian Basin
Odessa, TX • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,046
9. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
10. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
Average child care provider salary by education level
| Child care provider education level | Child care provider salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $39,423 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $33,099 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $36,549 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $34,718 |
Child care provider education FAQs
Have more questions? See all answers to common personal care and attendants questions.
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025