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2025 Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southwest Region

31 Colleges in the Southwest Region
3,933 Child development Degrees Awarded
Ranked #34 in popularity, early childhood education is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 31 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,933 degrees in early childhood education annually.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Early Childhood Education School

Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southwest Region Your choice of early childhood education school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for early childhood education schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Early Childhood Education Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Child development
Bachelor's Degrees in Child development
Master's Degrees in Child development

The child development school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Early Childhood Education Schools in the Southwest Region. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Early Childhood Education in the Southwest Region

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the child development degree levels they offer.

10 Top Southwest Region Schools in Child development

1
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In AZ
70 Child development Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in early childhood education has to look into Arizona State University - Tempe. ASU - Tempe is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Tempe. A Best Colleges rank of #108 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means ASU - Tempe is a great university overall.

There were roughly 70 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at ASU - Tempe in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Arizona State University - Tempe

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In AZ
888 Child development Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat Grand Canyon University if you wish to pursue a degree in early childhood education. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #144 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Grand Canyon University is a great university overall.

There were roughly 888 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Grand Canyon University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Grand Canyon University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In OK
31 Child development Degrees Awarded

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in early childhood education. Located in the suburb of Norman, University of Oklahoma is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #191 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means University of Oklahoma is a great university overall.

There were about 31 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at University of Oklahoma in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In AZ
69 Child development Degrees Awarded

Every student who is interested in early childhood education needs to look into Northern Arizona University. Located in the small city of Flagstaff, NAU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #221 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means NAU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 69 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at NAU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Northern Arizona University

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In AZ
110 Child development Degrees Awarded

UOPX - Arizona is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the large city of Phoenix. A Best Colleges rank of #83 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UOPX - Arizona is a great university overall.

There were about 110 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UOPX - Arizona in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of Phoenix - Arizona

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In OK
45 Child development Degrees Awarded

UCO is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Edmond. This university ranks 8th out of 31 schools for overall quality in the state of Oklahoma.

There were roughly 45 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at UCO in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from University of Central Oklahoma

7
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In NM
40.9% Growth in Graduates

NMSU Main Campus is a large public university located in the suburb of Las Cruces. This university ranks 11th out of 24 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Mexico.

There were about 22 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at NMSU Main Campus in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from New Mexico State University - Main Campus

8
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TX
221 Child development Degrees Awarded

South Texas College is a very large public college located in the medium-sized city of McAllen. A Best Colleges rank of #485 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means South Texas College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 221 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at South Texas College in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from South Texas College

9

Located in the remote town of Silver City, Western New Mexico University is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 6th out of 24 schools for overall quality in the state of New Mexico.More information about a degree in early childhood education from Western New Mexico University

10
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In TX
78 Child development Degrees Awarded

Collin County Community College District is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of McKinney. A Best Colleges rank of #386 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Collin County Community College District is a great college overall.

There were about 78 early childhood education students who graduated with this degree at Collin County Community College District in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in early childhood education from Collin County Community College District

Best Early Childhood Education Colleges by State

Explore the best early childhood education colleges for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Texas 905 1,861
Arizona 670 1,160
Oklahoma 565 213
New Mexico 416 220

View All Rankings >

Early Childhood Education is one of 13 different types of Teacher Education Grade Specific programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Child development

Related Major Annual Graduates
Elementary Education 4,579
Secondary Education 2,123
Teacher Education 2,015
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching 244
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching 188
Adult & Continuing Education 174
Teacher Development & Methodology 107
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Educational Methods 27
College/Postsecondary/University Teaching 27
Online Educator/Online Teaching 4

View All Child development Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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