Higher Education

With higher education you'll gain information and skills that you'll use for the rest of your life. College enables you to:

• Expand your knowledge and skills.
• Express your thoughts clearly in speech and in writing.
• Grasp abstract concepts and theories.
• Increase your understanding of the world and your community.

Child Start supports higher education!

College Credit

Child Start Professional Development workshops are recognized for college credit. To participate, a student takes eight level-3 workshops in the course of a program year. At the end of the program year, he or she will submit these workshops, along with tuition, to be converted into one college credit hour.

Eligibility:

• Enroll in the school of your choice and pay applicable fees or tuition.
• Enrollment will need to be early in the semester in which the last workshop is completed (example: by February 1st for Spring semester).
• Attend eight (8) level-3 Child Start trainings in the course of a program year (August 1st to June 31st) (levels determined by Core Competencies and are listed for each training)

Note:
The course counts as an elective in early childhood education and will be ungraded (P/NC). Ungraded courses generally do not transfer from institution to institution. Therefore, choose the institution carefully depending on your objectives.

Participating Institutions:

• Butler County Community College
  The course counts as an elective toward the Associate of Arts in Early Childhood or Associate of Applied Science in Early Childhood. For further details, call (316) 218-6845 
  
• Southwestern College
  The course counts as an elective toward the Bachelors in Early Childhood Education. For further details, call 1-800-846-1543 ext. 6360.
  
• Wichita State University
  The course counts as an elective toward the Bachelors in Early Childhood Education. Check the university website for current tuition rate. For further details, call (316) 978-3322.

CEU’s

CEU stands for Continuing Education Unit. It is a type of high quality in-service that meets national standards. Individuals are awarded CEUs by demonstrating that they understand and can apply the training that they have received. CEUs are often regarded as a bridge between in-service training and college credit and in some cases may transfer into college credit.

CEUs are accepted nation-wide as a uniform unit of measurement of post secondary learning. They are used in many fields including nursing, social work, and early childhood. The learning activities approved for CEUs must be responsive to the educational needs that have been identified for the target audience. They must contribute directly to the learner's professional competence.

Child Start offers opportunities throughout the year to obtain CEU’s.  Check your latest CRIB notes or contact our Professional Development Specialist for more information!

Obtaining Your Degree

Obtaining your degree has some practical benefits including having more job opportunities available to you and the opportunity to earn more money.

Below is a list of colleges and universities location in Child Start’s CCR&R SDA.  The institutions that offer Early Childhood and/or Education at the time of this writing are indicated with a *.

Sedgwick County

• *Baker University 
• *Butler County Community College
• *Cowley County Community College
• Friends University
• *Newman University
• *Southwestern College
• Tabor College
• University of Kansas School of Medicine - Wichita
• University of Phoenix
• Vatterott College
• Wichita Area Technical College (WATC)
• *Wichita State University (WSU)

Butler County

• *Butler County Community College

Cowley County

• *Southwestern College
• *Cowley College 

Harvey County

• *Bethel College 
• *Hesston College

Marion County

• Tabor College

McPherson County

• *Bethany College
• *Central Christian College
• *McPherson College

Reno County

• *Hutchinson Community College

Rice County

• *Sterling College