CDA vs associate degree in early childhood

Side by side

They are different kinds of thing. The Child Development Associate is a national, competency-based credential issued by the Council for Professional Recognition: it checks that you can do the job with a particular age group. An associate degree in early childhood education is a college degree: it proves you completed a program of courses. Licensing rules and Head Start law treat them differently, which is why the comparison matters.

CDA figures from the Council's own pages; Head Start rows from the Head Start Act §648A; all checked 2026-10-18. Degree length and practicum rules vary by college.

What the CDA takes

You pick a setting first: center-based preschool (ages 3 to 5), center-based infant-toddler (birth to 36 months), family child care or home visitor. Your training, your hours and your portfolio all have to match it. For the preschool CDA the Council lists three steps.

Prepare. 120 hours of formal early childhood training covering children ages 3 to 5, with no fewer than 10 hours in each of the eight CDA subject areas, from health and safety through family relationships and observing children. The training has to come from an organization with early childhood expertise. A solo consultant or a conference session does not count. Then 480 hours of work with children in that age group within the three years before you apply. Babysitting, before- and after-school programs, Sunday school and drop-in programs do not count toward them.

Apply. Within six months of applying, build your professional portfolio, including family questionnaires from the families you serve, and choose a Professional Development Specialist. Then apply online and pay the $525 assessment fee, which is nonrefundable.

Demonstrate. Sit the CDA exam at a Pearson VUE center, then the verification visit, where the specialist reviews your portfolio, watches you work with the children and talks it through with you. The Council's FAQ says the exam and file carry the decision for some candidates and the visit adds evidence for others, so plan for the visit.

The training is the cost that varies. The Council does not run it, so price depends on who you take it from. The Council's FAQ says your state may pay for some or all of the training and the fee if you are income-eligible, so ask your state office before you pay.

What the associate degree takes

An associate degree in early childhood education is usually an AAS (a career degree) or an AA (built to transfer to a bachelor's). It runs around 60 semester credits. Cuyahoga Community College's rule for its AAS, for example, is 60 semester credit hours. Full time, that is four semesters. Part time while working a classroom shift, it is often three years or more.

On cost, NCES puts average annual tuition and fees at public two-year colleges at $4,000 for first-time, full-time students in 2022–23, using the in-district or in-state rate. Two years at that average is about $8,000 before books, and your own college may be well above or below it. Check its published rate, and ask about state scholarships for early childhood workers.

What the degree buys that the CDA does not: it never expires, it transfers into a bachelor's, and it covers child development across ages instead of one setting. It also carries the general education credits (writing, math, science) that a CDA does not touch.

What each one qualifies you for

Head Start preschool. Under §648A of the Head Start Act, since October 1, 2011 every center-based Head Start classroom without a bachelor's-degree teacher has to have a teacher with at least an associate degree in early childhood education, or an associate in a related field plus ECE coursework and preschool experience. A CDA alone only fills that seat under a three-year waiver, granted while the teacher works toward the degree. The Act also requires that at least half of Head Start teachers nationwide hold a bachelor's.

Head Start teaching assistants need at least a CDA, or must be enrolled in an associate or bachelor's program, or enrolled in a CDA program they will finish within two years. Early Head Start center teachers need a minimum of a CDA plus training in early childhood development, with a focus on infants and toddlers. Every Head Start teacher also needs at least 15 clock hours of professional development a year.

Licensed child care outside Head Start. This is set by your state, and it varies a lot. BLS notes that some states and employers require childcare workers to hold a nationally recognized credential such as the CDA, and that public-school preschool teachers generally need a bachelor's and a state teaching license. Lead teacher and director rules are in your state's licensing standards, so read them there. Our guide to daycare licensing requirements shows where to find them. Neither credential replaces the background check every staff member needs before working alone with children.

If you are hiring, the director job description and the teacher job description show where a CDA or a degree sits as a must-have or a preferred line. If you are weighing a Head Start job against a private center, see Head Start vs daycare.

What it does to pay

BLS does not publish pay by credential, but its two occupations line up roughly with the two paths. Childcare workers, where the typical entry education is a high school diploma, earned a median $16.82 an hour in May 2025. Preschool teachers, where the typical entry education is an associate degree, earned $18.34.

BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 data. These are occupation medians, not a measured credential premium.

The gap is $1.52 an hour, or $3,160 a year at the median, about nine percent. ACF's own analysis for the proposed rule landed on a similar number from Head Start data: it estimated about a nine percent salary difference between Early Head Start classroom teachers with a CDA and those with no credential. Treat both as a rough guide. Your local market sets the real rate, and our daycare teacher salary guide covers the rest. Directors can run their own numbers in the teacher pay calculator.

Stacking one into the other

The two paths overlap more than people think. The Council accepts college credit for the 120 training hours and converts it at 15 clock hours per semester credit, so 8 semester credits of early childhood courses cover the whole training requirement. Take those courses at a community college and the same credits can also count toward its degree.

Some colleges also give credit for the credential itself. Cuyahoga Community College awards six credits toward its early childhood AAS for an infant-toddler or preschool CDA. Dallas College says a CDA can be worth up to nine college credit hours toward its programs. Those are two schools, not a rule, so ask your college for its credit-for-prior-learning policy in writing before you enroll.

Which to earn first

For a director, the CDA is the better first investment in most rooms. It costs a few hundred dollars plus training, it is earned on your floor with your children, and the portfolio and observation are built around the room the teacher already runs. Fund the degree for the teachers you are building toward lead or Head Start roles, and check your state licensing standards for what a lead teacher in each room has to hold.