Your 8-minute consultation

BA in Early Childhood Education

You asked about Pacific Oaks. Here is the conversation we would have had on the phone: what the degree is, how your years in the classroom count, what it costs, and exactly how to apply.

Your Enrollment RepresentativeOffice of Admissions, Pacific Oaks College

12 short parts · about 8½ minutes · sound on, captions available

Your 8-minute consultation

BA in Early Childhood Education

For the teacher who loves this work and wants the degree, the title, and the pay to match.

Your Enrollment RepresentativeOffice of Admissions · Pacific Oaks College, Pasadena

A young child smiling at a classroom table

First, the most important question

Is this you?

Years in a preschool, center, Head Start site, family childcare home, or TK room
You already know how children learn, because you watch it every day
What you don't have yet is the degree: lead teacher, site supervisor, director
Or you're just getting started. You know you want to work with young children and want the degree first. This program is built for you too.

If either one sounds like you, keep listening.

A teacher working with a child at a table

Your years in the field count

You may be closer than you think

79transfer credits you can bring in, toward the 121 for the degree

24elective credits your work experience can become, inside the 79

5+years in the field is what unlocks Credit for Learning from Experience

A faculty review decides the final number. Send your Enrollment Counselor an unofficial transcript and a rough work history for an early read on what counts. New to the field? You start at the beginning of the path, with the same support.

What you'll actually do

The why behind what you see

Study the science behind what you see
How children think, how play builds language and reading, how family and culture shape every child in your room.
Practice in a real classroom
A supervised practicum at a site ECE faculty choose with you, with support from your professor.
Pick a concentration
Generalist, Trauma Studies, or STEAM. Same degree, different focus.
Finish with proof
An action research project and a portfolio you can show an employer.

Built for the permit, too. The coursework and fieldwork here are the ones California Child Development Permits ask for.

Pick your focus

Three concentrations, one degree

Generalist

The widest path. The whole picture of early childhood and every door open, from lead teacher to the director path with the MA.

Trauma Studies

For the teacher carrying children through hard things. Most programs make you wait for a master's to study trauma. Here it's in the bachelor's.

STEAM

For the teacher who wants a director to notice, and wants science, engineering, art, and math to feel like play. Yes, robots in preschool.

All three sit inside the same 121 credits, so you can decide early without changing programs.

How it works

Built for people who work

100% onlineCoursework on Canvas, on a calendar you can plan around

8-week sessionsTwo each fall and spring, plus summer

1 or 2 classesat a time, around a full-time job

6 starts a yearThe next one is never far away

Small, discussion-based classes. Your professor knows your name, and your own classroom stories are part of the curriculum.

A student studying at a laptop by a window

Where it leads

What the degree opens up

Lead teacher, site supervisor, and center director roles. California is adding early childhood jobs faster than the rest of the country as universal TK and state preschool expand.

Want to go further? The MA in Early Childhood Education builds on this degree with the same faculty. Nobody starts over.

Annual pay in California

Preschool teacher, typical$47,400

Center director, typical$67,100

Center director, experienced$80,640

BLS wages, May 2025. California market figures, not Pacific Oaks graduate outcomes.

What it costs, and what helps

Real numbers

Lower division$1,236per 3-credit course

Upper division$2,751per 3-credit course

Online courses, 2026 to 2027 catalog rates, plus $310 in fees per semester. Before aid or scholarships.

Most students use federal financial aid to cover tuition. Very few pay cash for their courses, and you don't have to either. Don't let the sticker price be the reason you don't apply.

What else brings it down

Federal financial aid · FAFSA code 001255 Scholarships and grants for incoming students Employer and district partner discounts Transfer and experience credit · courses you don't pay for here

Why here, not somewhere else

Why Pacific Oaks

1945Pacific Oaks Friends School opens in Pasadena on a simple idea: every child, and every adult, deserves respect.
1958The college is founded to train early childhood teachers, with social justice at its center.
1989The Anti-Bias Curriculum is published, written by Pacific Oaks faculty, Children's School teachers, and alumni. It shapes how every course is taught.

The Children's School is still on campus. And the path keeps going: BA to MA to the EdD, same faculty, same philosophy.

The Children's School play yard with a treehouse

The honest part

Is Pacific Oaks the right fit?

Tap each one that's true for you.

How to apply

Four steps, about 15 minutes

Apply online
Go to apply.pacificoaks.edu and complete the application. About 15 minutes.
Personal statement
Two questions: what life and work experience you bring, and why early childhood education at a school that puts social justice first. Your counselor will gladly read a draft.
Resume and official transcripts
From every college you've attended. Your years in the field count on the resume too.
A valid ID
The last piece of the file.

Fee waiver. Get every document in within 14 days of applying and the $55 application fee is waived. Your counselor helps you hit that window.

Six starts a year

Apply now and your counselor will match you to the next start that fits your schedule.

Start my applicationapply.pacificoaks.edu→

Ready when you are

Your next step

Apply nowAbout 15 minutes · fee waived with documents in 14 days→ Book a 20-minute consultationWith an Enrollment Counselor · map your transfer credit and financial aid→ Book 1-on-1 with the Admissions ManagerNew Year, New Journey session · Se habla español→

Office of AdmissionsRather talk now? Call us toll free.800.201.2296pacificoaks.edu

Pacific Oaks College

45 W. Eureka St., Pasadena, CA 91103
Fully online BA · six starts a year

A better way, since 1945. Accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).

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