Child Development
Major, Minor
What is a child development major?
Building healthy adults starts with building healthy children. A child development major teaches you how to work with kids and help them start life with a strong foundation for future success.
You'll get hands-on experience through required internships, which will show you how to apply what you learn in real-world settings. After graduation, you'll be prepared to:
- Work immediately with children and youth in a variety of family and community settings.
- Continue your education and prepare for graduate-level licensure and certification programs in health or counseling related fields.
AT A GLANCE
Why choose our child development program?
Think back to your childhood. Do you remember an adult who helped you be strong and confident? Who encouraged you to be your best and be yourself? With our child development degree, you'll learn how to be that person as you:
- Study how children grow and develop from birth through early adulthood.
- Learn why family and parent-child relationships are so important.
- Understand how culture affects child development.
- Explore how adversity impacts children.
- Learn ways to promote good mental health and teach children to be strong and resilient.
You won't just learn these things in the classroom. By the time you graduate, you'll have taken part in internships and hands-on experiences that prepare you for a fulfilling career working with children.
Our internship coordinator will help you find an internship that matches your goals whether it’s close to CMU, across the country or abroad.
What will you do in our child development major?
- Interact with children: Learn at our Child Development and Learning Laboratory, our top-notch preschool where you’ll work with young children and do research with trained early childhood teachers.
- Participate in internships: Study at community organizations locally or near your hometown in the summer. Our internship coordinator will help you find the real-world experience to complement your campus experience.
- Study abroad: Gain new perspectives on child development in different cultures, like the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education in northern Italy.
- Build a professional network: Make connections, serve and develop professionally through student organizations centered around child development such as Children and Families Advocates Association, Connections that Count and Reimagining Early Childhood (REaCh).
- Pair our child development program with other majors/minors: Our child development major and minor can deepen your skills and experience when combined with other majors/minors across the university, including:
- Family studies
- Psychology
- Youth studies
- Social work
- Communication sciences and disorders
- Health professions and more
Careers as a child development major
CMU's child development program will prepare you to go to work as an After School Activities Director, Child Advocate, Child Protective Services Worker, Youth Development Specialist, Child and Family Counselor, Health-related Professional or in early intervention. You could also continue your training for careers in social work, speech therapy, family/child law, advocacy or counseling.
| Career | Projected Salary |
|---|---|
| Youth Counselor/Worker | $30,796 |
| Case Worker | $58,380 |
| Child/Family/School/General Social Worker | $58,380 |
| Nanny/Babysitter | $30,370 |
| Preschool Center Director | $49,690 |
| Child Life Specialist | $57,092 |
| Behavioral Specialist | $48,520 |
Building better after-school programs
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