2025 Best Early Childhood Education Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Ranked #16 in popularity, early childhood education is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 26 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of early childhood education. Combined, these schools handed out 1,728 associate degrees in early childhood education to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Early Childhood Education School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of early childhood education for getting your associate degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on early childhood education students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other early childhood education students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized early childhood education related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for early childhood education students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Early Childhood Education Schools

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 Associate Degree Schools in the Southeast Region.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Early Childhood Education in the Southeast Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for early childhood education students seeking a an associate degree.

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for an Associate in Child development

1

Rasmussen University - Florida
Ocala, FL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

123 Annual Graduates

Rasmussen University - Florida is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in early childhood education. Located in the city of Ocala, Rasmussen University - Florida is a private for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Rasmussen University - Florida

2

Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

105 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in early childhood education has to look into Liberty University. Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Lynchburg.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Liberty University

3

Palm Beach State College
Lake Worth, FL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

28 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in early childhood education has to check out Palm Beach State College. Palm Beach State College is a very large public college located in the large suburb of Lake Worth.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Palm Beach State College

4

Durham Technical Community College
Durham, NC

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

Durham Technical Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in early childhood education. Durham Technical Community College is a small public college located in the large city of Durham.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Durham Technical Community College

5

South Georgia Technical College
Americus, GA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

15 Annual Graduates

South Georgia Technical College is a small public college located in the distant town of Americus.More information about a associate in early childhood education from South Georgia Technical College

6

University of Arkansas - Fort Smith
Fort Smith, AR

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Fort Smith, UAFS is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a associate in early childhood education from University of Arkansas - Fort Smith

7

Indian River State College
Fort Pierce, FL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

16 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Fort Pierce, Indian River State College is a public college with a large student population.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Indian River State College

8

College of Central Florida
Ocala, FL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

14 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Ocala, CF is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in early childhood education from College of Central Florida

9

Georgia Military College
Milledgeville, GA

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

62 Annual Graduates

Georgia Military College is a moderately-sized public college located in the distant town of Milledgeville.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Georgia Military College

10

Miami Dade College
Miami, FL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

18 Annual Graduates

MDC is a very large public college located in the large city of Miami.More information about a associate in early childhood education from Miami Dade College

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
Mississippi	272	16
Florida	232	553
North Carolina	231	792
Georgia	217	602
West Virginia	180	4
Tennessee	170	2
Arkansas	161	66
Virginia	158	129
Kentucky	129	1
Alabama	109	0
South Carolina	105	6

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Child development

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

Most Popular Majors Related to Child development

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Elementary Education	278
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching	112
Teacher Education	108
Secondary Education	44
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching	2
Teacher Development & Methodology	1

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Vgrigas. More about our data sources and methodologies.