Overview

The fully online program gives students the skills they need to meet young children's social, emotional, physical and intellectual needs in a variety of settings. Graduates work as kindergarten teachers, daycare and pre-school instructors, Head Start teachers, and childhood advocates. Ranked the program 7th on the Great Value Colleges' list of top 30 affordable online early childhood education degree programs, while Best Value Online College Rankings ranked it 14th in the nation.

What You'll Learn

The Western Carolina University program offers a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in either early childhood or professional education. Taught by special education and early childhood education professionals, the program provides all students with a rigorous curriculum, plentiful resources and valuable experiences in working with young children and their families. Typically, students interested in teaching in a public school setting choose the professional education concentration, which leads to licensure, while those interested in working with children in non-public school or classroom settings choose the early childhood concentration. Both concentrations share core courses that reflect the knowledge base that all early childhood professionals should hold. Internships are a required experience for the professional education concentration students.

Where You'll Go

Graduates of Western Carolina University’s Birth-Kindergarten Education program can expect to find immediate employment in a wide variety of settings. Examples of career options for early childhood concentration graduates include home-based early intervention specialist and child care resource and referral specialist. Because professional education concentration graduates are typically interested in careers as classroom teachers, they might teach in a public school kindergarten or with Head Start or N.C. More at Four Programs. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the career field of early childhood education is expected to increase 17 percent by 2022—great news for future birth-kindergarten professionals!

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Programme Structure

The Birth-Kindergarten online major offers courses including:

Birth-Kindergarten
Foundations of Child Study
Early Childhood Literacy, Birth-5
Environments for Young Children
Child Development
Adult-Child Interaction

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Key information

Duration

Part-time
- 48 months

Start dates & application deadlines

Starting 2026-01-13 00:00:00
- Apply before 2025-10-01 00:00:00 , International
Starting 2026-08-19 00:00:00
- Apply before 2026-02-01 00:00:00 , International

More details

Any fall applications submitted or completed after February 2 will be considered on space available basis.

Language

English

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Credits

120 SCH

Delivered

Online

Disciplines

Education Early Childhood Education View 107 other Bachelors in Early Childhood Education in United States

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Academic requirements

We are not aware of any specific GRE, GMAT or GPA grading score requirements for this programme.

English requirements

IELTS

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TOEFL^® IBT

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Other requirements

General requirements

Your application to WCU begins with a strong academic record. We particularly look for:

Competitive Coursework
Competitive Grades and Class Rank (if Applicable)
Competitive Sat I or Act Scores
Background Checks
Academic Program Requirements

Computer Requirement

Required Actions and Records

Application
Application Fee
High School Transcript
Standardized Test Scores
College Transcripts
Credit Examinations

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Tuition Fee

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International

3630 USD/year

Tuition Fee

Based on the tuition of 3630 USD per year during 48 months.
National

3630 USD/year

Tuition Fee

Based on the tuition of 3630 USD per year during 48 months.
In-State

3630 USD/year

Tuition Fee

Based on the tuition of 3630 USD per year during 48 months.

Funding

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Scholarships Information

Below you will find Bachelor's scholarship opportunities for Birth-Kindergarten Education.

Available Scholarships

You are eligible to apply for these scholarships but a selection process will still be applied by the provider.

About

Overview

What You'll Learn

Where You'll Go

Get more details

Programme Structure

Check out the full curriculum

Key information

Duration

Start dates & application deadlines

Language

Credits

Delivered

Disciplines

Explore more key information

What students do after studying

Academic requirements

English requirements

Other requirements

General requirements

Make sure you meet all requirements

Tuition Fee

International

National

In-State

Funding

Scholarships Information

Available Scholarships

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