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Child care worker education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a child care worker. Child care workers usually study psychology, criminal justice, or business. 44% of child care workers hold a bachelor's degree, and 24% hold an high school diploma. We analyzed 27,851 real child care worker resumes to see exactly what child care worker education sections show.
The most common colleges for child care workers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.
There are also many online child care worker courses to help get the education required to be a child care worker.
There are certain child care worker certifications that you should consider. These child care worker certifications include First Aid, CPR and AED Instructor and Child Development Associate (CDA).
What education do you need to become a child care worker?
What degree do you need to be a child care worker?
- Bachelor's, 44%
- High School Diploma, 24%
- Associate, 18%
- Diploma, 5%
- Other Degrees, 9%
What should I major in to become a child care worker?
- Psychology, 19%
- Criminal Justice, 12%
- Business, 8%
- Social Work, 8%
- Other Majors, 53%
Most common colleges for child care workers
| Child care worker common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Phoenix | 18.47% |
| California State University - San Bernardino | 12.43% |
| Liberty University | 5.59% |
| Ashford University | 5.47% |
| Cleveland State University | 4.56% |
Best majors for child care workers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychology | 18.7% |
| 2 | Criminal Justice | 12.2% |
| 3 | Business | 8.3% |
| 4 | Social Work | 8.0% |
| 5 | Sociology | 5.8% |
Best colleges for child care workers
The best colleges for child care workers are Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, and Johns Hopkins University.
A child care worker 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 workers. 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 workers.
1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
2. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
3. University of California - Davis
Davis, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$14,402
Enrollment
30,698
4. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
5. San Jose State University
San Jose, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,796
Enrollment
27,125
6. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
7. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
8. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Enrollment
9,142
9. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Enrollment
13,871
10. Davis & Elkins College
Elkins, WV • Private
In-state tuition
$29,590
Enrollment
756
20 best online courses for child care workers
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. 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...
6. 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...
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. 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. 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...
11. Introduction to Child Psychology - ACCREDITED CERTIFICATE
Learn about child behaviour, parenting styles, relationships and socialising, cognitive development, counselling & more!...
12. Mastering Planning Vol 1: Hourly and Daily Planning
Learn the system for planning on an hourly and daily scale and the PAMe La (Plan, Act, Measure, Learn) Planning System...
13. 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...
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. 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...
16. 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...
17. 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...
18. 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...
19. 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...
20. Palliative Care: It's Not Just Hospice Anymore
People living with serious, life-limiting, chronic illness experience significant suffering. Fortunately there are new and developing treatments which may cure some and improve survival for many people living with serious illness. However, seriously ill people and their loved ones still experience many distressing physical symptoms as well as spiritual, social and psychological distress. There is much we can do to support people to live well with serious and life-limiting illness by...
Top 10 most affordable universities for child care workers
The most affordable schools for child care workers are California State University - Long Beach, california state university - bakersfield, and hunter college of the city university of new york.
If the best universities for child care workers 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 workers.
1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
2. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
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. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
5. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
6. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
7. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
8. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
9. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
10. California State University - San Bernardino
San Bernardino, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,922
Cost of attendance
18,522
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for child care workers
The hardest universities for child care workers to get into are Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, and Johns Hopkins University.
Some great schools for child care workers 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 workers 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. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
3. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
4. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
Admissions rate
40%
SAT average
1,376
5. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
Admissions rate
9%
SAT average
1,516
6. University of Rochester
Rochester, NY • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,422
7. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
Admissions rate
28%
SAT average
1,429
8. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
Admissions rate
39%
SAT average
1,367
9. Clemson University
Clemson, SC • Private
Admissions rate
47%
SAT average
1,337
10. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
22%
SAT average
1,420
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for child care workers
The easiest schools for child care workers to get into are Bluefield College, the university of texas permian basin, and mount saint mary's university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a child care worker 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 workers.
1. Bluefield College
Bluefield, VA • Private
Admissions rate
95%
SAT average
980
2. The University of Texas Permian Basin
Odessa, TX • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,046
3. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
4. Gwynedd Mercy University
Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private
Admissions rate
92%
SAT average
1,031
5. Ottawa University
Ottawa, KS • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,024
6. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
1,003
7. La Roche College
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
Admissions rate
99%
SAT average
1,008
8. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
9. Curry College
Milton, MA • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,026
10. Felician University
Lodi, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
999
Average child care worker salary by education level
| Child care worker education level | Child care worker salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $39,077 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $31,229 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $35,463 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $33,201 |
Child care worker 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