The certificate-level training that staffs Florida's child care centres and Voluntary Prekindergarten classrooms. ⚠⚠⚠ Of 1,017 credentials awarded at 37 Florida public institutions under the child care provider code, EVERY SINGLE ONE is a certificate — no associate degrees, no bachelor's. ⚠⚠ That is not an accident: s. 1002.55, F.S. sets the minimum credential for a VPK lead instructor at a Child Development Associate credential, and a CDA is not a degree.
The degrees this program covers
⚠⚠⚠ THE STATE'S MINIMUM IS A CREDENTIAL, NOT A DEGREE, AND THE TRAINING DATA MATCHES IT EXACTLY. Section 1002.55(3)(c)1., F.S. requires a Voluntary Prekindergarten instructor to hold at minimum a child development associate credential issued by the National Credentialing Program of the Council for Professional Recognition, or a credential the Department of Children and Families approves as equivalent or greater. ⚠ Florida's public institutions award 1,017 credentials a year under Child Care Provider/Assistant (19.0709) at 37 institutions — 663 of them certificates of twelve weeks to a year, 183 of one to two years, 130 of two to four years, 41 of under twelve weeks, and ⚠⚠ ZERO degrees of any kind. Child Care and Support Services Management (19.0708) adds 331 at 13 institutions, of which only 56 are associate degrees. ⚠⚠⚠ THE DEGREE ROUTE IS FILED SOMEWHERE ELSE ENTIRELY. Early Childhood Education and Teaching is CIP 13.1210, inside TEACHER EDUCATION — 31 Florida public institutions, 842 credentials, 513 of them bachelor's and 265 associate. FIU alone awards 216. ⚠ So the same broad field is split across two CIP families and two worlds: a certificate workforce regulated by the Department of Children and Families, and a degree-and-certification route regulated by the Department of Education. ⚠⚠ If you intend to teach in a public school classroom rather than a child care centre, the 13.1210 route is the one that gets you there, and the certificate route does not convert into it automatically. Ask what articulates before you enrol.
Careers this program leads to
Each one sets out the courses along the way, the licence or certification at the end,
and the sources behind it.
Neighbouring fields that share much of the same coursework, and often the same employers.
⚠ Read these before you commit to a major — which doors a neighbouring degree
keeps open is the part no catalog tells you, and it is far cheaper to change now than later.
39 institutions awarded a credential in this field in 2023,
at these levels: Associate, Certificate (<12 weeks), Certificate (1-2 years), Certificate (12 weeks-1 year), Certificate (2-4 years).
A school appears here if it awards anything in the field, however limited
its offering — a technical college teaching only practical nursing has a nursing
program. Listed alphabetically, not ranked.
Source: federal IPEDS completions data for 2023, first majors only —
the most recent year published. ⚠ It records what was awarded, which is
strong evidence of what is offered, but a program launched since 2023
will not appear here. Check the institution’s own catalog before applying.
Updated 22 September 2026.
⚠ Program pages describe a field of study, not one school’s degree — always
read the catalog of the institution you are applying to.