College of Education

Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (Non-Teacher Certification)

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Do you love to work with young children?

  • Early childhood education lays the foundation for a child's lifelong learning experiences. This bachelor's degree trac without teacher certification prepares you to work in a variety of settings with children from birth through age five.
  • You'll get hands-on experience in our Early Childhood Lab located on campus and other field settings to preapre you to be an effective leader from the start.
  • You will learn to develop age-appropriate lesson plans; assess child behavior; plan, implement, and monitor interventions; assist families; collaborate with professionals from multiple disciplines, and serve in administrative roles. You will learn to consider all aspects of the child's environment- home, school, and neighorhood.

 

Why choose Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (non-certification) as your major?

  • Our graduates are highly qualified and recruited for careers in early childhood programs.
  • Learn and grow through travel with student teaching abroad.
  • You will experience a diverse community with many opportunities to get involved.

 

Careers

Grow Your Future

As an early childhood professional, you have a part in building the foundation for a child's entire education.  You will find that a career in the field of early childhood education is both rewarding and impactful, as you establish the child and family's first impression of learning in an educational enviroment. 

 

Career opportunities for Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education (non-certification graduates:

  • Pre-Primary Teacher (private school)
  • Preschool Teacher (private school)
  • Kindergarten Teacher (private school)
  • Early Childhood Special Education Provider
  • Head Start Teacher
  • Program Director
  • Day Care
  • Postitions in State and Local Government Agencies
  • Early Childhood Trainor & Technical Assistance Provider

 

Schedule a visit with the College of Education

Looking for a teacher certification program?

The College of Education also offers a major in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education leading to teacher certification. Difference and similarities between the certification and non-certification degrees in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education include:

  • The degree leading to certification enables gradautes to work in early childhood classrooms that require a teaching certificate. 
  • Both the certification and non-certification degrees allow graduate to work in early childhood classrooms that do not require teaching certification, such as those in Head Start centers and private preschools.
  • Both degree tracks allow graduates to work in a variety of non-teaching positions that are essential to the field of early childhood education.

For more information on the teacher certification program, visit the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education page.

 


Apply for College of Education Scholarships

In addition to automatic and competitive scholarships from the University of Kentucky, our students are also eligible for a variety of scholarship awards from the College of Education.

For incoming freshmen the scholarship application deadline is February 1. 

For transfer and current students the scholarship application deadline is April 5.

Student Organizations

Students can find many opportunities to join organizations. Many of our Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education students are involved in:

 

Early Childhood Student Organization

​The goal is to promote interaction among students who are pursing a career that focuses on the development of young children through community involvement.

 

Learn more about student organizations in our college.

State Authorization and Licensure

If you plan to complete a University of Kentucky online program while living outside of Kentucky, you should check the Out-of-State Students page to determine if the University of Kentucky is authorized to provide this program in your state of residence. If you plan to use the degree to seek licensure, you should also determine if the degree meets the educational requirements for licensure in your state.

Refund Policies

You can find tuition refund policies, deadlines, amounts, and other important information on the UK Student Account Services website.