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2024 Best Early Childhood Education Schools in California

21 Colleges in California
4,885 Child development Degrees Awarded
Ranked #34 in popularity, early childhood education is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 21 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of early childhood education. Combined, these schools handed out 4,885 degrees in early childhood education to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Early Childhood Education School

Best Early Childhood Education Schools in California Your choice of early childhood education school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for early childhood education schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Early Childhood Education Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Child development
Bachelor's Degrees in Child development
Master's Degrees in Child development

The child development school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Early Childhood Education Schools in California. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.


 

Best Schools for Early Childhood Education in California

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the child development degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in Child development

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
479 Child development Degrees Awarded

Every student pursuing a degree in early childhood education needs to look into California State University - Sacramento. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #249 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Sac State is a great university overall.

There were approximately 479 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from California State University - Sacramento

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In CA
226 Child development Degrees Awarded

Every student who is interested in early childhood education has to take a look at San Jose State University. San Jose State is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Jose. A Best Colleges rank of #161 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means San Jose State is a great university overall.

There were about 226 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from San Jose State University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
511 Child development Degrees Awarded

Every student who is interested in early childhood education has to look into California State University - Fullerton. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #252 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cal State Fullerton is a great university overall.

There were roughly 511 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Cal State Fullerton in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from California State University - Fullerton

4
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
262 Child development Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in early childhood education needs to take a look at San Francisco State University. SFSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #204 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 262 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from San Francisco State University

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
400 Child development Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #299 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSUN is a great university overall.

There were roughly 400 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from California State University - Northridge

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
209 Child development Degrees Awarded

SDSU is a very large public university located in the large city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 209 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from San Diego State University

7
National University crest
National University
San Diego, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In CA
186 Child development Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of San Diego, National University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #196 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means National University is a great university overall.

There were approximately 186 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at National University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from National University

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
384 Child development Degrees Awarded

Cal State LA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. This university ranks 84th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 384 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Cal State LA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from California State University - Los Angeles

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA
142 Child development Degrees Awarded

CSUB is a moderately-sized public university located in the large city of Bakersfield. This university ranks 127th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 142 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at CSUB in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from California State University - Bakersfield

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
19th Most Popular In CA
62 Child development Degrees Awarded

Brandman is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #311 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Brandman is a great university overall.

There were about 62 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Brandman in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Brandman University


 

Best Early Childhood Education Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 775
Oregon 587 103
Nevada 354 87
Hawaii 267 62
Alaska 167 14

View All Rankings >

Early Childhood Education is one of 13 different types of Teacher Education Grade Specific programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Child development

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education 798
Elementary Education 780
Teacher Development & Methodology 626
Secondary Education 504
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching 5
Montessori Teacher Education 3

View All Child development Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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