For Immediate Release: April 16, 2019

Contact:
Mary Harrill
202-350-8834
[email protected]

NAEYC Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs Granted to Programs at Four Institutions; Fourteen Institutions’ Programs Renewed

WASHINGTON — The National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Commission on the Accreditation of Early Childhood Higher Education Programs is pleased to announce that it has granted first-time accreditation to early childhood degree programs at four institutions of higher education during its most recent meeting. In addition, the Commission voted to renew accreditation for programs at 14 institutions. This brings the total number of institutions with accredited programs to 207 in 40 states across the country.

"NAEYC accreditation of our associate and baccalaureate programs validates Post University’s longstanding commitment to high quality education," said Elsa Jones and Marie Russell, Program Chairs of Early Childhood Education and Child Studies at Post University. "The self-study process helped us live the professional standards and exemplified the value of partnership by uniting students, faculty, and our University community both locally and across the country. Our roles as early childhood professional leaders were heightened and our vision of excellence for students, young children, and families renewed. It is an honor to have earned Connecticut’s first NAEYC-accredited Bachelor’s in Child Studies!"

Early childhood professional preparation programs serve a wide-range of students and prepare early childhood educators for a variety of early learning settings.  Accreditation serves as a mechanism for ensuring a consistent and high level of program quality and alignment to the NAEYC Initial and Advanced Standards for Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs while respecting the unique mission and context of each degree program. 

“We congratulate all of the programs that achieved accreditation in this recent review cycle,” said Mary Harrill, Senior Director of Higher Education at NAEYC. “This is a pivotal way in which they demonstrate their commitment to preparing high quality early childhood educators and willingness to be held accountable to the profession and the public for ensuring that their graduates are ready to be effective in early learning settings.”

To earn and retain accreditation, professional preparation programs must demonstrate that they:

• Align to NAEYC’s Professional Preparation Standards;
• Respond to the unique needs of their degree candidates and communities;
• Provide intentional learning experiences for their degree candidates to obtain the knowledge and skills needed to be effective early childhood educators; and,
• Continuously assess and reflect on their degree candidates’ performance. 

The newly-accredited degree programs are:

The following programs have renewed accreditation:

For more information, visit the NAEYC Early Childhood Higher Education Accreditation system website.

For a printable version of this press release, please click here. 

Founded in 1926, the National Association for the Education of Young Children is the largest and most influential advocate for high-quality early care and education in the United States.

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