Best Online Associate in Early Childhood Education

Best Online Associate in Early Childhood Education

By James Barham and James Barham

Published: Jun 22, 2021
Updated: Mar 20, 2023

Find top-ranked online associate in early childhood education degree programs to help students take the first step towards entry-level education and childcare positions.

The Top 10 Online Associate in Early Childhood Education Degrees

University of Cincinnati

60%

University of Alaska Fairbanks

42%

Liberty University

40%

Tallahassee Community College

30%

St. Petersburg College

28%

Purdue University Global

28%

Arkansas Tech University

25%

Montgomery College

25%

Florida State College at Jacksonville

25%

College of Southern Nevada

24%

Lewis–Clark State College

100%

Liberty University

99%

State University of New York at Canton

95%

Arkansas Tech University

94%

Delaware Valley University

93%

University of Cincinnati

85%

Southwestern Assemblies of God University

85%

Lebanon Valley College

78%

Bay Path University

75%

University of Alaska Fairbanks

65%

State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota

30 to 1

Bakersfield College

29 to 1

Purdue University Global

28 to 1

St. Petersburg College

23 to 1

Florida State College at Jacksonville

23 to 1

Tallahassee Community College

23 to 1

Georgia Northwestern Technical College

22 to 1

College of Southern Nevada

21 to 1

College of Southern Idaho

21 to 1

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College

21 to 1

Lebanon Valley College

$47,180

Delaware Valley University

$41,380

Bay Path University

$35,781

Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences

$29,922

Liberty University

$22,713

Southwestern Assemblies of God University

$17,404

University of Cincinnati

$10,099

Purdue University Global

$10,080

Muskegon Community College

$9,080

Montgomery College

$8,070

Lebanon Valley College

$50,410

Bay Path University

$19,235

Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences

$16,128

University of Cincinnati

$13,224

University of Alaska Fairbanks

$11,265

Granite State College

$9,684

Charter Oak State College

$9,288

Delaware Valley University

$9,000

Purdue University Global

$8,730

Liberty University

$7,847

Haywood Community College

11%

Georgia Northwestern Technical College

12%

North Georgia Technical College

13%

Dyersburg State Community College

13%

J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College

13%

Kennebec Valley Community College

13%

Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences

14%

Chippewa Valley Technical College

14%

Kaskaskia College

14%

North Central Missouri College

14%

Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences

49%

University of Alaska Fairbanks

65%

Bay Path University

75%

Lebanon Valley College

78%

Southwestern Assemblies of God University

85%

University of Cincinnati

85%

Delaware Valley University

93%

Arkansas Tech University

94%

State University of New York at Canton

95%

Liberty University

99%

Haywood Community College

8 to 1

Johnston Community College

10 to 1

University of Alaska Fairbanks

11 to 1

Dawson Community College

11 to 1

Bay Path University

12 to 1

Lebanon Valley College

12 to 1

Chippewa Valley Technical College

13 to 1

Delaware Valley University

13 to 1

Paradise Valley Community College

13 to 1

Charter Oak State College

13 to 1

Monterey Peninsula College

$1,104

Bakersfield College

$1,380

St. Petersburg College

$1,943

College of Central Florida

$1,987

Tallahassee Community College

$2,002

Paradise Valley Community College

$2,040

Pima Community College

$2,088

Florida State College at Jacksonville

$2,095

Guilford Technical Community College

$2,128

State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota

$2,365

Lewis–Clark State College

$4,500

Arkansas Tech University

$5,414

Southwestern Assemblies of God University

$7,650

Liberty University

$7,847

Purdue University Global

$8,730

Delaware Valley University

$9,000

Charter Oak State College

$9,288

Granite State College

$9,684

University of Alaska Fairbanks

$11,265

University of Cincinnati

$13,224

Key Takeaways

The associate degree in early childhood education is an affordable way to get started on your college education. The typical associate degree will take about two years to complete.

Many community colleges and two-year schools offer both traditional and online degree programs for students pursuing their associate degree in early childhood education.

Earning an online associate degree in early childhood education can prepare you for a variety of entry level jobs in your field. Many students also continue into a bachelor’s degree program in early childhood education or a related area.

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Early Childhood Education Degrees

Why get an associate in early childhood education?

Future childcare workers, teachers, and tutors can take the first step toward a career in education by enrolling in an early childhood education program. The early childhood education program is an excellent degree for any student interested in working with young children in an early childhood education setting. Online students pursuing a degree in early childhood education will typically have access to the same curriculum, content, and courses as traditional early childhood education students.

Early childhood education associates with gain the skills and qualifications necessary to provide learning support, education, and pedagogy in early childhood settings.

Early childhood education graduates will qualify to work as early childhood educators, preschool teachers and as teacher’s assistants in public or private schools. Students who earn an online associate degree in early childhood education may also qualify to work full-time teaching young children in the private school setting. Students interested in teaching in elementary schools will typically be required to continue into early childhood education programs at the bachelor’s degree level.

What courses will I need to take to get an associate in early childhood education?

Early childhood education programs will typically be composed of both general education courses and core courses geared toward early childhood educators Students who pursue the associate degree in early childhood education online will learn foundational skills like curriculum planning, child guidance, children’s literature, language development, child growth, and the basic theories behind supporting short- and long-term student success.

Are online classes the best way to earn an associate in early childhood education?

Though early childhood education is a hands-on field, the online associate degree in early childhood education is a popular option among working adults. The online program offers a flexible and accessible option for early childhood education students interest in balancing current workplace responsibilities with the pursuit of their early childhood education associates. If you do choose pursue your associate in early childhood education online, be sure that your school has proper regional accreditation from the colleges and schools commission in your region.

How long does it take to get an associate in early childhood education?

A typical associate in early childhood program will require the completion of 60 credit hours. Students will typically take about two years to earn this degree, whether completing a brick and mortar degree program or pursuing their early childhood education online.

What can you do with an associate in early childhood education good for?

The associate in early childhood education can be a direct pathway to entry-level education and childcare positions, or it can serve as a stepping stone toward an array of bachelor’s degree in early childhood education programs, as well as a teaching certificate.

Learn more about how to major in education.

Best Online Associate in Early Childhood Education Degree Programs

How do we determine the best online early childhood education associate degree programs?

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

An associate degree is a great way for many to start their educational journey, but you may want to also consider an online bachelor’s in early childhood education.

Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare Salaries by Percentile in the U.S.

The following graph depicts the average salaries of Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare for each percentile in the U.S.

Source: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

SVG Attribution: Wikipedia

Total Employed: 56430

10%

15%

50%

15%

10%

bell-curve

3120037200473106001078350

10th Percentile25th Percentile75th Percentile90th Percentile

Best Online Associate in Early Childhood Education Degree Programs

Online ECE Programs Looking for You

Online Degree Frequently Asked Questions

If this is your first time taking an online course, the experience may require a time of adjustment. Although you’ll typically learn the same material and take the same exams as your on-campus peers, going online will require greater independence and responsibility than going in person. You’ll be accountable for your own time management, for harnessing the online educational technology that you’ll need to use, and for completing the course requirements, such as listening to lectures, learning lessons, reading texts, and handing in assignments. This means you’ll need to create a suitable workspace for yourself, maintain a realistic schedule, and take the initiative in building relationships with your instructors and classmates. With online college, your goal is to find a balance between independence and engagement.

No. The only part of online education that’s easier than campus-based education is ease of access: all you need is a computer and an internet connection for online education. But even this seeming advantage of online education can be misleading: what’s easier, studying online with your computer and internet connection from your home where you need to cook, clean, pay rent, and maintain a job? Or studying on campus in a dorm where all your living needs are handled by the school, and college staff are there to help you every step of the way?

If you take the commute to campus out of the equation, campus-based education is easier. All the support structures available on campus for students, especially with real people to help you in person, are not there online. The demands on you as an online student will largely be the same as for your campus-based counterpart, but without the same helps.

In general, your online courses will present the same material and test you in the same way as traditional in-person courses. In many cases, you’ll even have the same instructors as your on-campus counterparts. In fact, if you are adjusting to the experience of independent learning with remote educational technology for the first time, online college may be considerably more challenging than campus-based college. For a few insights on how to manage this new online experience, check out our 10 Tips for Adjusting to School Online.

Accreditation is especially important when it comes to online college. This is because the online education landscape is a mix of highly-reputable non-profit institutions on the one end and less-than-reputable for-profit institutions on the other end. Accreditation gives you the power to identify the more reputable actors in online education. Accreditation is a stamp of approval from an independent accrediting agency indicating that a college or university is meeting standards of quality and credibility. School-wide accreditation falls into two major categories: regional and national accreditation. Regional accreditors generally hold jurisdiction only over schools in the states comprising their region, whereas national accreditors hold jurisdiction over schools in all states. Regional accreditation is widely regarded as a more rigorous standard of quality and credibility than national accreditation.

Attending a college or university that is not regionally accredited could limit your opportunities. For students seeking an online education, we strongly recommend that they opt for regionally accredited schools. Regional accreditation ensures eligibility for federal loans and grants, ensures your college credits can be transferred between schools, and ensures that your degree credits can be accepted if you wish to earn an advanced degree. For more on this important topic, check out our What is Accreditation and Why Does It Matter? College & University Accreditation Guide.

As long as your online college degree is regionally accredited (see the previous point), you should have little difficulty transferring most of your credits or credentials to another regionally accredited undergraduate school. Every school carries its own standards and procedures for granting a transfer of credits. In many cases, you will encounter some bureaucratic haggling in which some of your credits will be transferred and others may be refused. However, provided that you have attended an online school with recognized regional accreditation, you should be in good shape in transferring your credits earned online.

In most cases, as long you graduate from a well-regarded, regionally-accredited online college, prospective employers won’t look sideways at your degree. In fact, unless you attend an exclusively online college or university, there will likely be no specific indicator on your degree, transcript, or resumé differentiating your school from its brick-and-mortar counterpart. This means that your employer will likely only differentiate between an online and in-person degree if you mention this distinction.

Some employers may express the concern that because you did your degree online, you may need to transition from an online education experience to in-person workplace experience. But in an age of Covid, that concern seems much diminished. The fact is that much employment these days is remote. And collaboration increasingly happens online over Zoom. Many employers will therefore view your online degree as evidence of valuable 21st century professional skills such as independence, self-motivation, time management, and tech savvy.

If you are a student who thrives on the dynamic energy of in-person discussion, who requires the physical surroundings of a classroom to feel engaged, or who considers the social aspects of education to be of equal importance to the actual content of your courses, online education will be less than ideal for you (though depending on your circumstances, it may also be the only viable option).

While there is much in traditional campus-based education that can be substituted or simulated through the online medium, some students may find that there is nothing that can replace the conversation, collaboration, and motivation that occur in an actual in-person classroom setting. As you transition to online education, one of the biggest challenges you will likely face in getting the most out of your online classes is overcoming this difference between “real reality” and “virtual reality.” Fortunately, we’ve got some great Tips for Online Education Beginners.

The advantages of online classes are many. Above all, online courses give you the freedom and flexibility to attend class from anywhere that works for you, whether you’re at home, in a coffee shop, or in a quiet conference room at work. In many cases, you’ll also enjoy the convenience of asynchronous learning opportunities-educational experiences that you can complete at your own pace and on your own schedule. This may include pre-taped lectures, ongoing chat-board discussions, and 24/7 access to digital materials. And of course, just as there are some learners who prefer the energy of a live classroom, there are those who learn best when working in their own personal space, free from distractions. If this sounds like you, you might find the solitude of online learning to be a major advantage.

Whether you’re just getting started on your college search, you’re looking for survival tips on your way to a bachelor’s degree, or you’re preparing for the transition into grad school, we’ve got guides, how to’s and tons of other valuable resources to keep you moving forward in your educational journey.

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