Daycare owner education requirements

Q: What degree do you need to be a daycare owner?

You need anywhere from a high school diploma to an associate's degree to be a daycare owner. Each state has different requirements and license processes for those who are interested in becoming a daycare worker.

Q: What degree do you need to open a daycare center?

While there is no specific degree needed to open a daycare center, a background in business or early childhood development can be extremely beneficial. While the exact requirements vary state by state, most states require those who open daycare centers to have at least a GED, experience working with kids, and some early child care credentials.

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a daycare owner. Daycare owners usually study business, early childhood education, or elementary education. 32% of daycare owners hold a bachelor's degree, and 29% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 2,542 real daycare owner resumes to see exactly what daycare owner education sections show.

The most common colleges for daycare owners are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online daycare owner courses to help get the education required to be a daycare owner.

What education do you need to become a daycare owner?

What degree do you need to be a daycare owner?

The most common degree for daycare owners is bachelor's degree, with 32% of daycare owners earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 29% and associate degree degree at 22%.

Bachelor's, 32%

Associate, 29%

High School Diploma, 22%

Diploma, 7%

Other Degrees, 10%

What should I major in to become a daycare owner?

You should major in business to become a daycare owner. 22% of daycare owners major in business. Other common majors for a daycare owner include early childhood education and elementary education.

Business, 22%

Early Childhood Education, 9%

Elementary Education, 7%

Accounting, 6%

Other Majors, 56%

Most common colleges for daycare owners

Daycare owners often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, Ashford University, and St. Louis. Here are the most common colleges for daycare owners in the US based on their resumes.

Daycare owner common college	Percentages
University of Phoenix	30.71%
Ashford University	10.71%
St. Louis	5.00%
University of Pennsylvania	4.29%
University of Iowa	4.29%

Show more common daycare owner colleges

Best majors for daycare owners

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Business	21.9%
2	Early Childhood Education	8.7%
3	Elementary Education	6.8%
4	Accounting	6.2%
5	General Studies	5.8%

Show more common daycare owner majors

Best colleges for daycare owners

The best colleges for daycare owners are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt University.

A daycare owner with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for daycare owners. 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 daycare owners.

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 daycare owners

Advertising disclosure

1. Sit Less, Get Active

Physical inactivity and sedentariness are “silent killers”. Do you feel like you spend too much time sitting? Do you feel like you would like to be more active? Are you unsure about how to incorporate physical activity into your daily life? We are here to help. Join us on a journey to learn about how to sit less and become more active. Use this FREE course to learn how to monitor your own activity and set physical activity goals. We will feature various examples of how physical activity could...

2. ESG and Social Activism

In this course, you will get an overview of the impact of contemporary ESG ratings and how a company balances ESG issues against its financial performance. You will evaluate the effectiveness of corporate authenticity and the impacts of politics when building corporate ESG policy. You will also learn about social activism’s ability to disrupt markets, and the roles that stakeholders play when dealing with financial markets. Next, you will learn about corporate Boards, and the importance of...

3. Azure Active Directory And Azure AD Domain Services

4.5

(5,411)

Learn how Azure Active Directory, On-Premises Active directory and Azure AD Domain Services (AADDS) integrate together...

4. Active Directory on Windows Server

4.6

(8,804)

Learn how to deploy and manage all aspects of Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS and many more technologies...

5. Azure Active Directory Masterclass

4.6

(1,270)

Learn to be a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on Azure Active Directory...

6. [Active Directory] Management using Windows PowerShell

4.5

(1,078)

[Power Shell] Simplified practical knowledge for automation & management of [Active Directory] using Windows Power Shell...

7. Azure - Active Directory

4.1

(1,363)

Learn Azure as it pertains to Active Directory...

8. Identity & Access Management - Azure Active Directory

4.5

(636)

Learn about Identity, Directory , SAML , OAUTH , Open ID Connect , Identity Security and Azure Active Directory...

9. PowerShell for Active Directory Administrators

4.5

(5,027)

Use Power Shell to manage Active Directory users, computer, groups, security settings and more on Windows Server...

10. Active Directory & Group Policy Administration for IT Techs

4.5

(651)

Active Directory & Group Policy Administration Basics for Helpdesk and Desktop / IT Support Technicians...

11. SAP Activate Project Manager Masterclass (C_ACTIVATE_22/13)

4.5

(1,983)

Learn SAP Activate Methodology (Act100) Learn Agile Methodology (Act200) Based on Activate 22 and Activate 13...

12. Azure Active Directory for.NET Developers (AD and B2C)

4.3

(558)

Learn how to authenticate API and .NET Web Application with Azure Active Directory and B2C (external logins)...

13. Become an expert in the NEW Agile SAP Activate Methodology

4.3

(397)

Learn how to successfully implement SAP projects using the NEW Agile SAP Activate Methodology from top SAP experts...

14. Active Directory and Windows Server 40+ Hour with Labs

4.4

(283)

Domain Controllers (DC), Global Catalog, FSMO, Groups, Users, Security, Domains and Forests ,Trusts, GPO, much more....

15. [2023] Customer Service 2.0: Learn Digital Customer Service

4.5

(3,956)

Used by Chase®, Intel®, & more! Learn soft skills, social media customer service, diagnosing user problems, & more...

16. TOTAL: Active Directory with Windows Server 2016

4.6

(2,189)

Identity, Access, and Authentication with Microsoft AD and Identity with Windows Server 2016...

17. Azure Active Directory: An Introduction to Azure AD

4.5

(1,671)

An Intro to Azure AD through Interactive Labs, Video Demos, Lectures, Flashcards, & 200+ Downloadable Slides...

18. Active Directory Pentesting Full Course - Red Team Hacking

4.4

(546)

Attacking and Hacking Active Directory...

19. How to automate active directory labs for pentesting

4.2

(1,975)

How to automate active directory based demo labs for pentesting, hacking and training requirements...

20. The Complete Daily Positive Habits Building Course

4.4

(1,366)

Increase Happiness and Decrease Procrastination Using SSP Brain Training...

Top 10 most affordable universities for daycare owners

The most affordable schools for daycare owners are California State University - Bakersfield, suny farmingdale, and university of florida.

If the best universities for daycare owners 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 daycare owners.

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 daycare owners

The hardest universities for daycare owners to get into are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt University.

Some great schools for daycare owners 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 daycare owners 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

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

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

SAT average

1,497

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for daycare owners

The easiest schools for daycare owners 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 daycare owner 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 daycare owners.

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 daycare owner salary by education level

Daycare owners with a Master's degree earn more than those without, at $34,021 annually. With a Bachelor's degree, daycare owners earn a median annual income of $31,111 compared to $29,277 for daycare owners with an Associate degree.

Daycare owner education level	Daycare owner salary
Master's Degree	$34,021
High School Diploma or Less	$27,671
Bachelor's Degree	$31,111
Some College/ Associate Degree	$29,277

Daycare owner education FAQs

What degree do you need to be a daycare owner?

What degree do you need to open a daycare center?

What is the best college for Daycare Owners?

Have more questions? See all answers to common personal care and attendants questions.

Search for daycare owner jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse personal care and attendants jobs