2025 Best Online Child Development Degrees

Southern New Hampshire University was a great school and I am glad I attended. I received a Bachelors in Psychology with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Development. The courses were very informative and the professors helped you in any way they could if you needed. My academic advisors were always emailing and calling to make sure I was getting through my courses okay and they provided any help or points of contact they could. They were very personable, which to me is huge because they showed... Read More they cared. Some of the courses where difficult but SNHU has many sources you can use to help you get where you need to be. I graduated summa cum laude this year, and it was hard to get there but you can do it if you put your mind to it! I highly recommend!

I have just graduated with my Bachelor's Degree from Ashford. I have to say overall I am very pleased with my experience. The work was no joke, especially when it came time for my 300 and 400 level courses. I had some issues with the financial aid department. But quickly realized that when I calmed down, had all my paperwork in front of me and asked for a supervisor I received the information I was looking for. My advisor was not as quick answering me, but she was helpful when I talked to her. The... Read More woman that enrolled me into the school was AMAZING, she checked in on me all of the time, with no pressure, just seeing how things were going. When I could not get a hold of my advisor she came through for me. Overall this was a very good experience, and I have just received a promotion at work due to having my degree. I am quite happy!!!!

SNHU was a great experience for me. I graduated at the top of my class in May of 2016. If you're willing to work hard and stay focused, this is the right school. I am now working on my Master of Arts in professional counseling. I do not regret choosing SNHU. I did my research and chose this school wisely. I did have a very few (2 or 3) instructors that I did not like, but that's to be expected. There was really only one that made my life miserable. I asked for and received awesome references from... Read More my final instructors. I highly recommend this school!

I just (literally 3 weeks ago) graduated from Walden with my BS degree in Psychology. I love the school and the course work. If you're a person that needs constant attention and help this school is probably not for you, because you really have to work at your own pace and independently to complete task or coursework majority of the time. Seeing as I worked full time while trying to obtain my degree, this was right up my alley! My thing is college is not hard--no matter what school you attend as long... Read More as you know how to follow directions and turn papers and discussion boards in on time-you'll do fine. If not......then you won't. (shrugs) This school is VERY expensive, but to work and your own pace on your own time it was worth it to me.

I have been attending Waldorf College for about a year and a half, and my degree is nearly complete. Waldorf has provided me with an excellent college experience. I've attended large state universities, small community colleges, and other online schools. Waldorf has out shined all of them. I never had to pay for a book because Waldorf has received a book grant, the professors are all very friendly and go out of their way to help even wayward students like me, the curriculum is structured to make... Read More sure that the students have ample time to complete their assignments, and each course has its own identity with regard to assignments; assessments, research papers, PowerPoint Presentations, etc. The application and admission process was lightening fast and easy as could be. Financial aid is almost an after thought because the staff handles everything except actually filling out your FAFSA. The school staff communicate very well through each phase of the application process and throughout my time as a student. My adviser routinely communicates with me via email to check on my academic progress and to see if I have any questions or comments for her. When I have a question or problem that I email her about, she always responds within an hour or two at the most, or first thing in the morning if I email her at night. I feel like I am the reason that Waldorf exists, that is how much personal attention they have shown me. I have attended colleges where I didn't even know my adviser's name. Waldorf has some great people working there. I feel that I am receiving a top notch education from Waldorf College. Waldorf is very small relative to other colleges, but I believe that to be a positive. I have had several of the same professors for different courses, all psychology courses, which is another plus because I know their expectations and their teaching methods so I stand a better chance of attaining the highest grade. I highly recommend Waldorf to anyone looking to further their education, but especially working professionals with little or no time for sitting in a classroom.

It is a funny thing when you check reviews of businesses or schools. No matter the business, the majority of the reviews are negative. That usually is because people that are satisfied and happy are less likely to take the time to post something positive than a person who is angry who had a negative experience. With that said, I began attending GCU online in the summer of 2010. After being laid off I felt it was time for a career change and an education. I researched a lot of online schools and chose... Read More GCU because they had a working relationship with our county's office of education. I also wanted an online school with a campus based school.I did not want an online only school. I concerned about my diploma not being worth the paper it was printed on. There are a lot of diploma mills out there. I wanted a diploma that was going to carry some weight. At that time, there were not many campus based universities offering complete online Bachelors programs. I am now one class away from completing my degree and will return to the school for my Master's. With that said, the degree has already begun to pay off for me. The school is pretty reputable in educational field , at least here in California. I know many people in the educational field who have received their masters through the school. The first year I did have some hiccups with the financial aid department, but that wasn't 100% their fault. If you are diligent and stay on top of things there should be no problems. But then why wouldn't you, you are the one paying for it. What I would recommend is this, IF YOU ARE NOT DISCIPLINED, online school, at any school, is not right for you. You will get out of it what you put into it. The classes are fast paced at 7-8 weeks a class, so they go by fast. I am a married father of two, a high school football coach, and teacher. Prior to that I was working two part time jobs while I was taking classes. Even with all that, it is not that hard to stay up on the work. You just have to practice good time management. I will say the school has got MUCH better at there communication with their online students. At the beginning I had three counselors, one for academic, one for financial aid, and one in general. They have since combined them and it is a lot smoother. I have one person to contact, and she is great about returning my calls or emails. The school is definitely moving in the right direction. Since I joined they have moved up to the D1 status and now play the major universities in sports. It would be nice to see them add a football team. In the end, I will have a degree that I will not be ashamed of displaying, and I will be a proud alumni of a good school. It is not Harvard or USC, but it is a good quality school and worth it.

I have had the best school experience at University of Phoenix. My academic and financial advisor were top notch and contacted me every few weeks just to check on me. However, I would contact either of them if there were any issues or just to touch base also. I naturally reach out to people. I naturally develop relationships. So perhaps my natural tendency to build relationships with people, has helped me in this environment. During my associates degree, I had the absolute best teachers! I think... Read More I only had one really rotten one. However, in my Bachelors program, I had a few really great teachers and the rest were at best, mediocre. They did what they needed to do or they graded absurdly harsh and nitpicked every single thing in a paper. I actually had a teacher count me off because I did not actually put the words "Introduction" and "Conclusion" on slides for a PowerPoint presentation. Instead, I had titled the slides "In the beginning" and "What Did We Learn" respectively. I sort of thought it was obvious that the first and last slides were what they were. But whatever. I also had a teacher give me a flat out zero on a presentation because I used animations that brought the content together on the slide and she refused to watch it in slide show mode. I was able to refute the grade and file a grievance and I ended up with an A but it was a hassle. I agree that there are not a lot of procedures in place if there is an issue or problem with a teacher. At a school you physically attend, there are actually people you can speak with face-to-face and better, more fully developed escalation of ways to resolve issues. The learning team experience was WONDERFUL! I got the absolute best team in my first Bachelor's class. We clicked so well that we submitted "Follow-A-Friend" requests with each of our advisors and we stayed together for the entire Bachelor's program. While I never met any of them, I have stayed in touch and I consider them to be genuine friends. We spoke quite often outside of the classroom experience and we were always able to count on each other. If you get a great teammate in a learning team, DO request that you follow each other. It makes ALL the difference in the learning team. Within a few classes, you will have your dream team and you will wonder what all the fuss with learning teams is. :) My biggest complaint is that because the classes are so short, I did not feel that I was able to truly immerse myself as fully as I may have liked to. However, the shorter classes were wonderful when you were taking something like statistics that I absolutely hate anyway! Just to give a little background: Getting my degrees (Associates and then Bachelors) was not exactly a cake walk. The amount of work that is required is substantial in that you must participate in writing and not just by turning in papers like a brick and mortar school. I also had two deaths in my family (grandparents) within a few weeks of each other during the middle of my Associates program and my husband and I split up over the stress of it all for a few months. I was basically a single Mom going to school full time during those months. During the end of that program, I found out I was pregnant and gave birth extremely early to a tiny baby with a congenital heart defect that had to have open heart surgery almost immediately after birth. She suffered from 10 strokes during her open heart surgery and other complications that kept us in the Children's Hospital here for almost 6 months. Thanks to the flexibility of University of Phoenix's online program, I was able to stay in school and not withdraw. Instead of starting my Master's program in a few weeks, I would be still attempting to finish an Associates program if I were having to take classes in a classroom and show up a couple of times a week in person. As it was, I was able to continue with no breaks and just keep my laptop with me. When she slept, which she did quite often because she was so ill and fighting for her life, I would do my assignments and participation. I am not going to say that I made the best grades I could have but I did the very best I could under my circumstances and I did NOT give up. Neither did my baby, by the way, she is now a happy, healthy, little stinker of a toddler and she has been our biggest blessing! Online school is not for everyone and not every online school will be the perfect fit. If you are curious, try it and see. Univ. of Phoenix is quite expensive but it was the right choice for me and I have had only wonderful experiences. I DO feel that I can have academic conversations with people about many subjects. As a result of an elective class I took, Creative Writing, I began writing outside of the classroom and have now had a story I wrote published! I feel like, despite of taking all online classes, I got a fairly well-rounded degree (Hint: choose electives that broaden your learning experience of develop skills you would like to work on - such as my creative writing class). In general, life is what you make it. Seek out additional resources. If a subject you are taking interests you, pursue it further. Learning happens both in and out of a classroom.

I have been surprised at the negative comments about Saint Leo. The core values and excellent instructors made this school more than just a degree. For me, the experience as an adult learner was invaluable. The classes were engaging. I never had an issue when/if I needed helped. However the instructors are not there to hold your hand. The expectation is you learn material and keep up with the syllabus. If not it is really sink or swim. My education has made doors open for graduate school. If Saint... Read More Leo offered a Master degree in my field I'd go there again, over any school. Go Lions!