Child Development Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Child Development maps to BLS occupations averaging about $75,138, with roughly 382,960 workers nationwide in those roles. About 1,715 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $4,954.
Key Statistics
Child Development: what the data shows
Common questions about child development degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a child development degree?
A Child Development program is classified under NCES CIP 19.0706 in the Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services field family (19.07).
A program that focuses on the intellectual, social, emotional, and biological development of children and the planning and design of related human services. Includes instruction in parent-child relations, parenting practices, special needs of children, parental and environmental influences on child development, external support services, and related public policy issues
IPEDS counted 1,715 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of child development degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 19.07 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Adult Development and Aging (CIP 19.0702)
- Child Care Provider/Assistant (CIP 19.0709)
- Child Care and Support Services Management (CIP 19.0708)
- Developmental Services Worker (CIP 19.0710)
- Early Childhood and Family Studies (CIP 19.0711)
- Family Systems (CIP 19.0704)
- Family and Community Services (CIP 19.0707)
- Human Development and Family Studies, General (CIP 19.0701)
- Parent Education Services (CIP 19.0712)
How long does it take to get a child development degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 19.0706 in our file:
- 821 Associate (29.0% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 1,715 Bachelor's (60.6% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 296 Master's (10.5% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Child, Family, and School Social Workers (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 19.0706, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a child development degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Child Development to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers | 382,960 | $58,570 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a child development degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services bachelor's program family: median debt $25,786, median earnings $48,568 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.77.
About 4.8% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $4,954 and median net price is $10,321.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Child Development and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,954 Median In-State Public
$28,490 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Child Development majors are, on average, $4,954 for in-state public colleges, and $28,490 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Child Development programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Child Development from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Child Development.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 3 | University of Phoenix-Arizona | AZ | 85,991 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Child Development programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 2 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 3 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 4 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 5 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Child Development programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 3 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 4 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 5 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Child Development programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Child Development programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Child Development is in CA (682 completions). That state represents about 39.8% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is AK (0.43% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 682 | 39.8% | 0.15% |
| TX | 162 | 9.4% | 0.06% |
| CT | 124 | 7.2% | 0.25% |
| NC | 102 | 6.0% | 0.08% |
| MI | 98 | 5.7% | 0.09% |
| ID | 51 | 3.0% | 0.18% |
| TN | 48 | 2.8% | 0.07% |
| VA | 44 | 2.6% | 0.04% |
| MA | 41 | 2.4% | 0.03% |
| SC | 39 | 2.3% | 0.07% |
| OK | 36 | 2.1% | 0.09% |
| WA | 34 | 2.0% | 0.05% |
| MD | 30 | 1.8% | 0.04% |
| WV | 29 | 1.7% | 0.08% |
| MN | 26 | 1.5% | 0.03% |
| MO | 23 | 1.3% | 0.03% |
| PA | 23 | 1.3% | 0.01% |
| KS | 14 | 0.8% | 0.04% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 19.07 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Adult Development and Aging CIP 19.0702
- Child Care Provider/Assistant CIP 19.0709
- Child Care and Support Services Management CIP 19.0708
- Developmental Services Worker CIP 19.0710
- Early Childhood and Family Studies CIP 19.0711
- Family Systems CIP 19.0704
- Family and Community Services CIP 19.0707
- Human Development and Family Studies, General CIP 19.0701
- Parent Education Services CIP 19.0712
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 19.0706 in the survey year used in our extract (2,832 total across levels below).
- 821 Associate (29.0% of IPEDS total)
- 1,715 Bachelor's (60.6% of IPEDS total)
- 296 Master's (10.5% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $75,138. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Child Development graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers | $75,138 | 382,960 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services CIP family (89 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Child Development graduate.
- $25,786 median federal loan debt among completers
- $48,568 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.77 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 4.8% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$75,138 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Child Development majors is $75,138.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Child Development majors.
Occupations by Share
382,960 2023 Workforce
The number of Child Development graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Child Development by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Child Development in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Child Development.
Age distribution for Child Development degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1,715 Total Degrees Awarded
56 Male (3.27%)
1,659 Female (96.73%)
Gender distribution of Child Development degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
697 White (40.64%)
596 Hispanic or Latino (34.75%)
228 Black or African American (13.29%)
62 Two or More Races (3.62%)
57 Asian (3.32%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Child Development degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Child Development are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Child Development.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Child Development field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Child Development majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Child Development majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Child Development majors.
About
A program that focuses on the intellectual, social, emotional, and biological development of children and the planning and design of related human services. Includes instruction in parent-child relations, parenting practices, special needs of children, parental and environmental influences on child development, external support services, and related public policy issues
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Child Development.
CIP Code
19.0706 - Child Development
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $25,786 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $48,568, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.77. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Child Development graduate.
Women earned 97.3% of 4,599 Child Development completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $75,138. The largest mapped role by headcount is Child, Family, and School Social Workers (382,960 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,954 in-state at public colleges and $28,490 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.