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Day care center director education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a day care center director. Day care center directors usually study psychology, early childhood education, or social work. 52% of day care center directors hold a bachelor's degree, and 17% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 215 real day care center director resumes to see exactly what day care center director education sections show.
The most common colleges for day care center directors are the Montclair State University and the Montclair State University.
There are also many online day care center director courses to help get the education required to be a day care center director.
What education do you need to become a day care center director?
What degree do you need to be a day care center director?
- Bachelor's, 52%
- Associate, 17%
- Master's, 16%
- Diploma, 8%
- Other Degrees, 7%
What should I major in to become a day care center director?
- Psychology, 14%
- Social Work, 9%
- Other Majors, 58%
Most common colleges for day care center directors
| Day care center director common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Montclair State University | 13.33% |
| Kean University | 6.67% |
| University of California - Davis | 6.67% |
| Saint Joseph's University | 6.67% |
| University of Wisconsin - La Crosse | 6.67% |
Best majors for day care center directors
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychology | 14.0% |
| 2 | Early Childhood Education | 10.0% |
| 3 | Social Work | 9.0% |
| 4 | Elementary Education | 9.0% |
| 5 | Business | 7.0% |
Best colleges for day care center directors
The best colleges for day care center directors are Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University.
A day care center director with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for day care center directors. 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 day care center directors.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
2. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
4. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,625
Enrollment
17,407
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
6. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-state tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
7. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
8. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$53,740
Enrollment
5,567
9. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
In-state tuition
$26,756
Enrollment
6,166
10. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$55,695
Enrollment
6,596
20 best online courses for day care center directors
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 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...
3. Operations Management: Facilities Planning and Management
Operations Management Training Program (Course 8 of 8)...
4. Providing Trauma-Informed Care
Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...
5. 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...
6. 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...
7. Crisis Intervention Seminar
The emphasis is on the development of fundamental clinical skills in the area of crisis intervention...
8. Cybersecurity: Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst NOW!
Jump-start your cybersecurity career from the gateway to success: A Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst...
9. 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...
10. 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...
11. 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...
12. Learn Test management using HP ALM / QC (Quality Center)
A practical detailed discussion on Test Management using Quality Center / ALM...
13. 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...
14. 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...
15. 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...
16. 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...
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. 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,...
19. CVS Health Call Center Customer Service
The demand for call center customer service representatives is huge, there are thousands of open job roles in the US alone. If you are someone that enjoys talking to people and solving problems and are ready for new experiences, then this program is right for you. Customer service in a call center is an exciting career where every day is a new day and a new adventure. If you're considering a career in retail customer service and you're someone who is passionate about providing exceptional...
20. Newborn Baby Care
A newborn baby is an amazing beautiful life filled with hope. Unfortunately, many babies die or experience preventable harm even in 21st century. It is imperative that babies who are born healthy get off to a healthy start in the first month of life. There are some easy tenets of care to implement that help ensure that babies and families get off to a healthy start no matter where they are in the world. In this specialization learners will acquire the skills necessary for newborn baby care to...
Top 10 most affordable universities for day care center directors
The most affordable schools for day care center directors are California State University - Long Beach, hunter college of the city university of new york, and baruch college of the city university of new york.
If the best universities for day care center directors 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 day care center directors.
1. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
2. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
3. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
4. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
5. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
7. University of South Florida
Tampa, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,410
Cost of attendance
20,456
8. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
9. USF Sarasota-Manatee
Sarasota, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,587
Cost of attendance
13,043
10. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for day care center directors
The hardest universities for day care center directors to get into are Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University.
Some great schools for day care center directors 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 day care center directors 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 Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
3. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
20%
SAT average
1,419
6. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
7. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
Admissions rate
23%
SAT average
1,434
9. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,407
10. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
Admissions rate
17%
SAT average
1,507
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for day care center directors
The easiest schools for day care center directors to get into are D'Youville College, mount saint mary's university, and gwynedd mercy university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a day care center director 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 day care center directors.
1. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
2. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
3. Gwynedd Mercy University
Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private
Admissions rate
92%
SAT average
1,031
4. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
1,003
5. Curry College
Milton, MA • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,026
6. Felician University
Lodi, NJ • Private
Admissions rate
81%
SAT average
999
7. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
8. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
9. Oklahoma Wesleyan University
Bartlesville, OK • Private
Admissions rate
68%
SAT average
964
10. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
Average day care center director salary by education level
| Day care center director education level | Day care center director salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $82,314 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $66,057 |
| Doctorate Degree | $96,050 |
Day care center director education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025