Early Childhood Education - ECE Administration Certificate of Achievement

Cost: $5,755
Length: 85 weeks
Working 6 months later: Not reported

Program names and program descriptions appear here in English, because that is the only language the federal and state records publish them in. Occupation titles are translated where O*NET publishes a Spanish name. Everything else on this page is translated.

What happened to people who took this

No outcomes reported for this program

About a third of California programs report nothing. That is a fact about the program's reporting, not evidence that it works or does not.

The jobs this trains for

This describes the jobs people do, not the classes this program teaches. It comes from the U.S. Department of Labor, which asks people already doing the work. The Department publishes it in English only, so the job names and the sentences below stay in English on this page.

Trains for more than one job. The outlook shown is the weakest of them.

Where California publishes a separate figure for Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County), it appears beneath the statewide one. Statewide stays the headline: people who train here do not necessarily work here.

Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare

Job ads may call this: Principal · Site Coordinator · Childcare Director · Education Director

Some of what people in this job do. The Department rates how important each one is, and they appear in that order.

Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities and policies and students' behavioral or learning problems.
Monitor students' progress and provide students and teachers with assistance in resolving any problems.
Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff and recommend personnel actions for programs and services.
Teach classes or courses or provide direct care to children.

Show 4 more things this job involves

Set educational standards and goals and help establish policies, procedures, and programs to carry them out.
Determine the scope of educational program offerings and prepare drafts of program schedules and descriptions to estimate staffing and facility requirements.
Determine allocations of funds for staff, supplies, materials, and equipment and authorize purchases.
Direct and coordinate activities of teachers or administrators at daycare centers, schools, public agencies, or institutions.

What this pays in Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)

Each bar runs from the lowest-paid tenth to the highest-paid tenth. The darker middle is where half the people are, and the line is the median.

Area	The lowest-paid tenth earn under	Half earn under	The highest-paid tenth earn over
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)	$47,544	$61,220	$95,262
Across California	$48,388	$68,226	$102,491

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) beside the same figures for the whole state. A region can sit well below or above the statewide spread, and the statewide number is the one most often quoted — so where they differ, the local row is the one that describes the work near this program.

Typical pay in California: $68,226per yearSanta Cruz-Watsonville MSA: $62,752
Projected openings: 8,100Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA: 60
Projected change: +8.4%
Usually needs: Bachelor's degree

Getting in

Experience needed first: Under 5 years in a related job
Training after you are hired: None

Employers usually expect some time in a related job as well as the training. Ask the provider what their graduates did before they were hired.

These are the federal government's answers for the occupation, not rules this provider sets. California publishes the same two answers for every one of these jobs.

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

Pay, hiring, and what people studied

Job ads may call this: Teacher · Group Teacher · Infant Teacher · Nursery Teacher

Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.
Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.

Show 4 more things this job involves

Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development.
Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.

What this pays in Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)

Each bar runs from the lowest-paid tenth to the highest-paid tenth. The darker middle is where half the people are, and the line is the median.

Area	The lowest-paid tenth earn under	Half earn under	The highest-paid tenth earn over
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)	$39,691	$49,118	$75,424
Across California	$38,930	$48,727	$67,179

Typical pay in California: $48,727per yearSanta Cruz-Watsonville MSA: $46,480
Projected openings: 80,570Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA: 490
Projected change: +13.1%
Usually needs: Associate's degree

Getting in

Experience needed first: None
Training after you are hired: None

No earlier job experience is expected, and new hires are not put through a long training period. For work like this, a program is usually the way in.

Program details

This program provides in-person instruction only.

The Early Childhood Education Administration Certificate of Achievement provides the early childhood education (ECE) student interested in assuming leadership and administrative positions with a course of study that prepares them for administrative positions in early childhood, school-age, and other community-based settings. Competencies required to lead and administer a variety of programs are included as well as introductory business and management strategies appropriate for leading programs serving children, youth, and their families. This certificate satisfies the educational requirements and courses needed for the specialization component of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, Child Development Permit. Note: the Cabrillo College ECE department is part of the California Early Childhood Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP) which supports transfer and consistent curriculum in the preparation of early childhood education students. The following eight courses in the Early Childhood Education Associate in Science for Transfer support early care and education teacher preparation: ECE31, ECE32, ECE34, ECE51, ECE52, ECE53, ECE54, and ECE59. These 24 unit lower-division courses in the program of study represent evidence-based coursework that is the foundational core for all early care and education professionals.

Someone else may be able to pay for this

This program was on California's Eligible Training Provider List when the state last reported it to the U.S. Department of Labor (2026-09-18). Programs on that list can be paid for through an Individual Training Account. Listings are renewed periodically and can lapse, so a program listed when the state last reported may not be listed today. Ask before you rely on it.

Ask before you enroll, not after

The order the rules set out starts at the center rather than at the school. Before a center can find somebody eligible for training services it has to gather enough to decide, at a minimum through an interview, evaluation or assessment and career planning. Referring a person to the provider they have chosen and setting up the account both come after that, and both are the center's to do — the account is a payment agreement with the training provider, and it is the provider that is paid through it. So the call belongs before enrolling and before paying. Anyone who has already done either should still ask, and ask what it means for them.

The place to ask is an America's Job Center of California

Capitola Career Center - America`s Job Center of California (AJCC)Affiliate site
Phone: 831-464-6286
2045 40th AvenueSuite BCapitola, CA 95010about 5.5 miles away
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
Has a veterans' representative
SCCOE - Suenos Youth Program ServicesAffiliate site
Phone: 831-466-5672
229 Green Valley RoadSequoia SchoolsFreedom, CA 95019about 6.9 miles away
Hours: Monday-Friday 9a.m.-5p.m.
Santa Cruz County, Workforce, Watsonville Career CenterComprehensive center
Phone: 831-763-8933
500 Westridge DriveCounty of Santa Cruz, South County Government CenterWatsonville, CA 95076about 7.9 miles away
Hours: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm Closed 12:00 noon - 1pm

At a comprehensive center all the required partner programs can be reached; an affiliate site offers some of them. Distances are straight-line, so the drive is longer. Call before you travel: opening hours here are as the federal directory published them, and the state notes its own staff are not present at every location.

Find a center anywhere in California, and check what is on the list today:
CareerOneStop — American Job Center Finder (U.S. DOL) · California EDD — Office Locator · California EDD — Eligible Training Provider List

How this gets paid for, and what to ask →

Whether a person can have a program paid for is decided by their local workforce development board and the America's Job Center staff who interview them — not by this site, and not by the training provider. California has 45 local workforce development areas and each sets its own policies, so the answer can differ between two people in neighboring counties. Nothing here is a promise of funding or a determination of eligibility.

The rules cited here, and the state and federal sites linked to, are published in English.

How this site gets its figures, and what they do not tell you →