Online Early Childhood Education Accelerated Degree

With the online accelerated degree program, you'll gain a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education, Special Education minor and master’s in Early Childhood Education. Upon degree completion, you will be eligible for licensure in Early Childhood Education and Special Education. You'll become a leader in early childhood education as a teacher, mentor, curriculum specialist, early interventionist, or administrator.

As you earn your online early childhood education degree, you'll focus on children in the context of family, culture and community. You'll explore developmentally appropriate practices, emergent curriculum, descriptive assessment, and problem-solving approaches to resolving conflict and choices for children. As a student you will experience scholarly application for practitioners and may continue your education to pursue a Doctorate of Education.

How does an accelerated online early childhood education degree work?

Early Childhood Education B.S. + Special Education Minor + Early Childhood Education M.S.

The online accelerated degree programs for the M.S. or M.Ed. in Special Education allows those with an associate’s degree in education or currently enrolled undergraduate students at UND an opportunity to complete the requirements for both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees at an accelerated pace. Undergraduates with 60 credits or those currently in an Education degree program are eligible for consideration for the accelerated degree program.

All requirements for both the undergraduate and graduate degrees must be met, and these students may double count up to 12 graduate-level credits towards the requirements for their undergraduate degree and their M.S degree requirements. Accelerated degree students must obtain their M.S degree within 12 months of completing their undergraduate degree, provided that the degree requirements can be completed in that time frame.

Article: Teacher Education meets the moment

“That [the accelerated program] gets me moving a lot faster in my own career. And, really, having that master’s degree makes me a lot more competitive when it comes to finding jobs and higher pay. I would say that if you’re committed to this field, as a student, why not go further and finish that master’s degree? Through this program, you can do it faster than anywhere else."

— Janie Schroeder, UND Early Childhood Education Graduate

Accredited Online Early Childhood Education Program

UND offers a highly accredited master's in early childhood education program. Teacher Education programs at UND are accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). The ECE online program follows the guidelines of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).