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Best Master's in Early Childhood Program Administration Programs by Degrees Awarded

Edited by Zoe MacDougall, BS in Psychology

Published ·Last updated

Ranked by the number of master's degrees awarded each year, the most established programs. The top 1 out of 1 programs reviewed from the IPEDS database.

  1. 1

    University of Massachusetts Global

    Aliso Viejo, CAPublicOnline available

    • 6Master's/yr
    • $101,860Metro teacher pay
    • Master of Arts in Education, Early Childhood Education concentration
    • Online
    About the program

    UMass Global offers a Master of Arts in Education with an Early Childhood Education concentration for educators who want to deepen their expertise in the earliest years of learning without pursuing a state credential. The concentration is one of several within a customizable 30-credit degree that pairs a short three-credit core with 21 credits of electives and concentration study, letting students shape the program around their goals. Built on eight-week terms, it can be completed in as little as five months at full-time pace, an appealing timeline for working professionals. The degree itself is not a licensure or credential program, though a separate Preliminary Administrative Services Credential pathway exists at UMass Global for those seeking administrator licensure. Accredited by WSCUC and AAQEP, it reads as a flexible, fast-moving option for advancing early childhood practice. It is a master's degree in early childhood program administration at the master's level, based in California.

    Why it ranks here

    Master's programs are judged differently here. Undergraduate stats do not apply, so the ranking looks at whether the program is established, the pay its graduates walk into locally, and how the university stands behind it. On the first, it is clearly established, turning out 6 master's degrees a year, a steady if smaller cohort. Its graduates step into Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA, where elementary teachers earn a median $101,860, roughly $89,692 once local cost of living is factored in, a real-world read on what the credential is worth in that market.

    Area teacher pay: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025, adjusted for local cost of living via U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities. A location figure, not this program's graduate earnings.

    School site

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