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2024 Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southeast Region

122 Colleges in the Southeast Region
8,136 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 looked at 122 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 8,136 degrees in early childhood education to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Early Childhood Education School

Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southeast Region The child development program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Early Childhood Education rankings. 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.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Early Childhood Education Rankings by Degree Level

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southeast Region list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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 the Southeast Region

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. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

18 Top Southeast Region Schools in Child development

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In GA
170 Child development Degrees Awarded

Every student pursuing a degree in early childhood education has to check out University of Georgia. UGA is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Athens. A Best Colleges rank of #72 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UGA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 170 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UGA in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of Georgia

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In NC
115 Child development Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in early childhood education has to look into University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #43 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UNC Chapel Hill is a great university overall.

There were roughly 115 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UNC Chapel Hill in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In FL
103 Child development Degrees Awarded

University of Central Florida is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in early childhood education. Located in the suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #193 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCF is a great university overall.

There were approximately 103 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UCF in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of Central Florida

4
Clemson crest
Clemson University
Clemson, SC
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In SC
35 Child development Degrees Awarded

Clemson University is a wonderful option for students interested in a degree in early childhood education. Clemson is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Clemson. A Best Colleges rank of #107 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Clemson is a great university overall.

There were roughly 35 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Clemson in the most recent data year.

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

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In SC
84 Child development Degrees Awarded

Located in the midsize city of Columbia, UofSC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #152 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UofSC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 84 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UofSC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of South Carolina - Columbia

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In FL
240 Child development Degrees Awarded

Located in the large suburb of Miami, FIU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #183 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means FIU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 240 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at FIU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Florida International University

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
19th Most Popular In FL
6.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Tampa, USF Tampa is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #229 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USF Tampa is a great university overall.

There were about 16 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at USF Tampa in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of South Florida - Main Campus

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
30th Most Popular In GA
7.1% Growth in Graduates

KSU Georgia is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Kennesaw. This university ranks 15th out of 68 colleges for overall quality in the state of Georgia.

There were roughly 14 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at KSU Georgia in the most recent year we have data available.

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

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In KY

Located in the large city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #230 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UK is a great university overall.

There were approximately 4 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UK in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of Kentucky

10
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In LA

Louisiana State University is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Baton Rouge. A Best Colleges rank of #271 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Louisiana State University is a great university overall.

There were about 24 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Louisiana State University in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

11
Auburn crest
Auburn University
Auburn, AL
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In AL
61 Child development Degrees Awarded

Located in the small city of Auburn, Auburn is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #154 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Auburn is a great university overall.

There were roughly 61 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Auburn in the most recent data year.

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

12
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
22nd Most Popular In FL

UF is a fairly large public university located in the city of Gainesville. A Best Colleges rank of #58 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UF is a great university overall.

There were about 16 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of Florida

13
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In FL
641 Child development Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Ocala, Rasmussen University - Florida is a private for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 9th out of 77 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.

There were roughly 641 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Rasmussen University - Florida in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Rasmussen University - Florida

14
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In AL
91 Child development Degrees Awarded

University of West Alabama is a moderately-sized public university located in the rural area of Livingston. This university ranks 6th out of 40 schools for overall quality in the state of Alabama.

There were approximately 91 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at University of West Alabama in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of West Alabama

15
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In LA

Located in the town of Ruston, Louisiana Tech is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 29 colleges for overall quality in the state of Louisiana.

There were roughly 19 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Louisiana Tech in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Louisiana Tech University

16
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
22nd Most Popular In GA
13.0% Growth in Graduates

Mercer is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Macon. This university ranks 4th out of 68 colleges for overall quality in the state of Georgia.

There were approximately 23 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Mercer in the most recent data year.

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

17
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In FL
35 Child development Degrees Awarded

UNF is a large public university located in the large city of Jacksonville. This university ranks 15th out of 77 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.

There were approximately 35 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UNF in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of North Florida

18
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In VA

Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #117 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means GMU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 3 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at GMU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from George Mason University


 

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
19 College of Charleston Charleston, SC
20 The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga Chattanooga, TN
21 University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA
21 Piedmont College Demorest, GA
22 University of Louisville Louisville, KY
23 University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC
24 Georgia College & State University Milledgeville, GA
25 University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL

Best Early Childhood Education Colleges by State

Explore the best early childhood education colleges for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Florida 715 1,201
North Carolina 710 1,012
Georgia 690 1,167
Virginia 630 383
Tennessee 624 185
South Carolina 530 539
Kentucky 518 83
Mississippi 501 32
Alabama 500 276
Louisiana 489 119
Arkansas 466 210
West Virginia 410 4

View All Rankings >

One of 13 majors within the Teacher Education Grade Specific area of study, Early Childhood Education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Child development

Related Major Annual Graduates
Elementary Education 11,435
Secondary Education 2,452
Teacher Development & Methodology 2,216
Teacher Education 1,960
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching 1,605
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching 1,004
Adult & Continuing Education 257
College/Postsecondary/University Teaching 60
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods 20
Montessori Teacher Education 18

View All Child development Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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