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Day care worker education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a day care worker. Day care workers usually study psychology, business, or general studies. 37% of day care workers hold a bachelor's degree, and 32% hold an high school diploma. We analyzed 1,497 real day care worker resumes to see exactly what day care worker education sections show.
The most common colleges for day care workers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.
There are also many online day care worker courses to help get the education required to be a day care worker.
What education do you need to become a day care worker?
What degree do you need to be a day care worker?
- Bachelor's, 37%
- High School Diploma, 32%
- Associate, 18%
- Diploma, 5%
- Other Degrees, 8%
What should I major in to become a day care worker?
- Psychology, 14%
- Business, 10%
- General Studies, 9%
- Other Majors, 61%
Most common colleges for day care workers
| Day care worker common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Phoenix | 13.56% |
| Southern Connecticut State University | 6.78% |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | 6.78% |
| Eastern Michigan University | 5.08% |
| University of Pennsylvania | 5.08% |
Best majors for day care workers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psychology | 13.8% |
| 2 | Business | 9.7% |
| 3 | General Studies | 8.6% |
| 4 | Early Childhood Education | 6.4% |
| 5 | Elementary Education | 6.4% |
Best colleges for day care workers
The best colleges for day care workers are Vanderbilt University, University of Rochester, and University of Virginia.
A day 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 day 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 day care workers.
1. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
In-state tuition
$17,653
Enrollment
16,405
2. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
In-state tuition
$49,816
Enrollment
6,840
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
4. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
In-state tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
5. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Enrollment
34,564
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Enrollment
9,142
7. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Enrollment
31,503
8. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,488
Enrollment
30,018
10. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
In-state tuition
$10,555
Enrollment
30,360
20 best online courses for day care workers
Advertising disclosure
1. 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...
2. 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...
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. 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...
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. 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...
8. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer
Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...
9. 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...
10. 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...
11. Coping Skills and Self-Care for Mental Health
Essential skills to manage intense emotions and develop a self-care practice to promote mental health...
12. Conflict Resolution for Co-Workers
You'll learn diagnosis and resolution techniques for tense, sensitive conflicts with your co-workers, manager or peers...
13. 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...
14. 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...
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. 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...
17. 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...
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. 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. 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 workers
The most affordable schools for day care workers are University of Florida, california state university - bakersfield, and brigham young university.
If the best universities for day 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 day care workers.
1. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
2. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$7,309
Cost of attendance
16,714
3. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
4. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
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. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$8,306
Cost of attendance
16,091
8. California State University - Dominguez Hills
Carson, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,942
Cost of attendance
14,469
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 day care workers
The hardest universities for day care workers to get into are Vanderbilt University, University of Rochester, and University of Virginia.
Some great schools for day 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 day 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. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
2. University of Rochester
Rochester, NY • Private
Admissions rate
29%
SAT average
1,422
3. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
Admissions rate
26%
SAT average
1,427
4. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
Admissions rate
40%
SAT average
1,376
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
13%
SAT average
1,445
6. Clemson University
Clemson, SC • Private
Admissions rate
47%
SAT average
1,337
7. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
8. University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL • Private
Admissions rate
32%
SAT average
1,365
9. Baylor University
Waco, TX • Private
Admissions rate
39%
SAT average
1,307
10. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
Admissions rate
58%
SAT average
1,309
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for day care workers
The easiest schools for day care workers to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, adventhealth university, and la roche college.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a day 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 day care workers.
1. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
2. AdventHealth University
Orlando, FL • Private
Admissions rate
87%
SAT average
1,016
3. La Roche College
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
Admissions rate
99%
SAT average
1,008
4. Ottawa University
Ottawa, KS • Private
Admissions rate
78%
SAT average
1,024
5. Pennsylvania State University - Worthington Scranton
Dunmore, PA • Private
Admissions rate
82%
SAT average
1,056
6. University of the Incarnate Word
San Antonio, TX • Private
Admissions rate
88%
SAT average
1,044
7. The University of Texas Permian Basin
Odessa, TX • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,046
8. Holy Names University
Oakland, CA • Private
Admissions rate
70%
SAT average
849
9. Rochester University
Rochester Hills, MI • Private
Admissions rate
100%
SAT average
1,002
10. Pennsylvania State University - Shenango
Sharon, PA • Private
Admissions rate
75%
SAT average
989
Average day care worker salary by education level
| Day care worker education level | Day care worker salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $34,496 |
| High School Diploma or Less | $26,836 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $30,943 |
| Some College/ Associate Degree | $28,741 |
Day 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