For Immediate Release

April 6, 2026                                                                                                                                                                                   

WASHINGTON —

The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs is pleased to announce that it has granted first-time accreditation to programs at two institutions and granted renewed accreditation to programs at eight institutions during its spring 2026 meeting. There are currently 179 accredited programs across 34 states, with nearly 100 additional programs in self-study. 

Early childhood professional preparation programs serve a wide range of students and prepare early childhood educators for a variety of early learning settings. Accreditation serves as a mechanism for ensuring a consistent and high level of program quality and alignment to the Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators while respecting the unique mission and context of each degree program, its host institution, and its community.

"The Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Educator Profession highlights the centrality of higher education programs in preparing the ECE workforce, and the need for these programs to be aligned to national standards for ECE professional preparation program quality," said Mary Harrill, Senior Director of Higher Education at NAEYC. "Through achieving NAEYC accreditation, these programs are holding themselves accountable to their students and to the public for ensuring that their graduates are effective practitioners."

To earn and retain accreditation, professional preparation programs must demonstrate that they:

• Meet NAEYC’s Higher Education Accreditation Standards;
• Respond to the unique needs of their degree candidates and communities;
• Provide intentional learning experiences aligned to the Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators for their degree candidates to obtain the knowledge and skills needed to be effective; and,
• Continuously assess and reflect on their degree candidates’ performance.

The following programs have been granted renewed accreditation:

• Central Michigan University (MI) – B.S. Early Childhood Development and Learning; B.A.A. Early Childhood Development and Learning; B.S.Ed. Teaching Early Childhood & Early Childhood Special Education; B.S.Ed. Teaching Grades PK-3
• City Colleges of Chicago – Olive-Harvey College (IL) – A.A.S. Child Development Preschool Education
• Collin College (TX) – A.A.S. Early Childhood Educator
• Colorado Mountain College (CO) – A.A.S. Early Childhood Education
• Montgomery County Community College (PA) – A.A. Education in the Early Years: Birth through Fourth Grade
• Post University (CT) – A.S. Early Childhood Education; B.S. Child Studies
• St. Philip’s College (TX) – A.A.S. Early Childhood and Family Studies
• Tidewater Community College (VA) – A.A.S. Early Childhood Development

For more information, visit the NAEYC Early Childhood Higher Education Accreditation system website. To download a printable copy of this release, click here.