Online Child Development Degrees: See the Best Schools & More

Students who complete CDA training possess the skills to foster positive developments in children on intellectual, social, physical, and emotional levels. This is an early career, pre-degree training option that can be a great first step into a career in child development or a way for current professionals to improve their job prospects.

Students choose between four focus areas for their certification: preschool, infant-toddler, family child care, and home visitor. Each concentration area helps students explore eight central subject areas to ensure that professionals become well-rounded leaders for all early childhood education environments.

Subject areas include safety, intellectual development, social and emotional development, relationship skills with family members, teaching effectiveness, professionalism, behavior observation, and basic principles of child development. While it is certainly possible to find a job working in child development without earning a CDA credential or degree, it is a cheaper alternative, with a smaller time commitment, than an associate’s or higher degree.

Perhaps you’re ready to make a larger investment in your future as an early childhood development professional. The associate degree is an excellent choice. These two-year programs can prepare you with the necessary skills to help young students develop characteristics that will help them achieve long-term academic success. Associate degree programs allow you to delve deeper into supporting children’s emotional, educational, and social needs than the CDA credential. Additionally, you will develop the skills to make informed decisions about curriculum design and effective instructional classroom practices.

You can complete associate degree programs in child development entirely online. During the last semester, online students typically complete a faculty-supervised internship in a childcare setting. This associate degree is an excellent choice for professionals who want to jumpstart their career and pursue full-time entry-level positions in the field.

Bachelor’s degrees in child development can prepare you to pursue careers as an educator as well as a manager or administrator in a variety of settings including government agencies, schools, and nonprofit organizations. You may find yourself working with children individually one-on-one, working as part of a team to manage an educational facility, or designing community programs that serve children.

These programs typically require four years of work. During this time, child development students develop advanced communication, research, and critical thinking skills that help them better assist young students today. Degree-seekers typically choose from several concentrations, including early childhood education, child development practitioner, Montessori education, prevention and intervention sciences, or pre-health professions.

An online bachelor’s degree in child development can be an excellent, flexible fit for working professionals who want to make a career change. These programs are also valuable for first-time college students preparing to enter the competitive job market.

Master’s degrees in child development build further upon the skills that students acquire in their bachelor’s programs. Master’s degrees allow graduate students to focus on a specialized area of study. In many cases, degree-seekers must produce a final project or traditional master’s thesis based on their original work or research.

Your intended concentration area and research interests are some of the most important factors for you to consider when it comes to choosing a school. Concentration options vary among schools. Popular areas of specialty in master’s programs include adolescent growth, mental health, counseling and family services, and infant and early childhood development.

Master’s degree-holders, depending on their area of specialization, can pursue careers as teachers, social workers, social and community service managers, nonprofit directors, and more. When you apply, you will need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited Institution, prior professional experience working in the field, and at least a 3.0 or higher GPA. Additionally, graduate schools often require applicants to submit letters of recommendation and GRE scores.