Online Child Development Schools and Colleges

Child Development Online Colleges

Child development degrees can be found at the diploma level all the way up to advanced master's degree. You can even find online child development programs that can be beneficial to you as you continue to work and that give you the flexibility to gain skills on a schedule convenient to you. Some example online programs include the Bachelor's of Science in Child Development and the Master's of Education in Early Childhood Education. The latter program gives you the knowledge to help students advance through important cognitive and emotional development stages in their lives. You can also find other related online degrees that could be beneficial if you want to work with students or in counseling. Some of these include the Bachelor's of Arts in Behavioral Science, the Master's of Education in Teaching and Learning and the Master's of Science in School Counseling. Many of these programs give you the opportunity to interact with classmates online and to discuss issues pertinent to career success.

Some of the most obvious career choices for graduates with child development degrees are occupations based around being a childhood specialist or child care professional. However, these are not the only options. You can also become a preschool or kindergarten teacher or pursue school counseling. Pay varies per occupation, as does the type of education that is required. However, the mean annual wages earned by child care workers in the U.S. were $21,110, according to 2010 Bureau of Labor Statistics data. You would probably just need a diploma or on the-job training to enter this field. However, kindergarten teachers working in the U.S. earned mean wages of $51,550 and elementary school teachers earned mean annual wages of $54,330. Both of these fields require a bachelor's degree and are projected to grow at a rate slightly above average, 2008-2018, according to 2010 BLS data. School counselors, who typically need a master's degree, earned mean annual wages of $55,970, according to the BLS. Education administrators, who often need advanced child development degrees or advanced training in the administration field, earned mean annual wages of $81,870 in 2010. Other fields that could be of interest are those for public health workers, psychologists and social workers, especially those in the family field.

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