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Day care director education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a day care director. Day care directors usually study psychology, business, or elementary education. 45% of day care directors hold a bachelor's degree, and 18% hold an high school diploma. We analyzed 2,270 real day care director resumes to see exactly what day care director education sections show.
The most common colleges for day care directors are the Ashford University and the Ashford University.
There are also many online day care director courses to help get the education required to be a day care director.
What education do you need to become a day care director?
What degree do you need to be a day care director?
- Bachelor's, 45%
- High School Diploma, 18%
- Associate, 17%
- Master's, 11%
- Other Degrees, 9%
What should I major in to become a day care director?
- Psychology, 14%
- Business, 9%
- Education, 7%
- Other Majors, 61%
Most common colleges for day care directors
| Day care director common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| Ashford University | 9.26% |
| University of Phoenix | 9.26% |
| University of Iowa | 6.48% |
| University of Maryland - College Park | 5.56% |
| Troy University | 5.56% |
Best majors for day care directors
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychology | 13.5% |
| 2 | Business | 9.0% |
| 3 | Elementary Education | 8.6% |
| 4 | Education | 7.4% |
| 5 | Nursing | 7.4% |
Best colleges for day care directors
The best colleges for day care directors are Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Rochester.
A day care 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 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 directors.
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
3. University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$13,226
Enrollment
31,568
4. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
In-state tuition
$17,653
Enrollment
16,405
5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
6. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
In-state tuition
$53,740
Enrollment
5,567
8. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
In-state tuition
$49,816
Enrollment
6,840
9. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
10. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
20 best online courses for day care 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. 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...
3. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer
Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...
4. Providing Trauma-Informed Care
Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...
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. 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...
7. Successful Events: Event Planning, Marketing & Management
Create a single successful event or event-series with effective event promotion, planning, management, and monetization...
8. 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...
9. 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...
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. 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...
12. 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...
13. 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,...
14. 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...
15. 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...
16. 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...
17. 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...
18. Value-Based Care
Learners may study at their own pace to take any of the six courses and the Capstone Project course independently (receiving a certificate for each) or collectively for the specialization designation. This specialization is intended for healthcare professionals, faculty, and students pursuing healthcare-related studies to develop an awareness of Value-Based Care reimbursement and operating models. Through six courses and a Capstone project, you will develop an understanding of your individual...
19. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff
Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...
20. 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...
Top 10 most affordable universities for day care directors
The most affordable schools for day care directors are Hunter College of the City University of New York, brigham young university, and university of florida.
If the best universities for day care 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 directors.
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. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
3. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
4. Florida International University
Miami, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,556
Cost of attendance
19,434
5. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
6. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
7. Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$5,656
Cost of attendance
21,623
8. Baruch College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,262
Cost of attendance
14,046
9. Clayton State University
Morrow, GA • Private
In-state tuition
$5,419
Cost of attendance
17,697
10. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
Top 10 hardest universities to get into for day care directors
The hardest universities for day care directors to get into are Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Rochester.
Some great schools for day care 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 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. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
2. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
3. University of Rochester
Rochester, NY • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,422
4. Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA • Private
Admissions rate
28%
SAT average
1,429
5. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
Admissions rate
19%
SAT average
1,466
6. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
Admissions rate
40%
SAT average
1,376
8. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
Admissions rate
26%
SAT average
1,427
9. Clemson University
Clemson, SC • Private
Admissions rate
47%
SAT average
1,337
10. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for day care directors
The easiest schools for day care directors to get into are D'Youville College, gwynedd mercy university, and mount saint mary's university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a day care 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 directors.
1. D'Youville College
Buffalo, NY • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,072
2. Gwynedd Mercy University
Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private
Admissions rate
92%
SAT average
1,031
3. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
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. Ottawa University
Ottawa, KS • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,024
9. Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, ME • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,069
10. Notre Dame College
Cleveland, OH • Private
Admissions rate
90%
SAT average
994
Average day care director salary by education level
| Day care director education level | Day care director salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $49,527 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $41,223 |
| Doctorate Degree | $56,332 |
Day care director education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025