Early Childhood
Why Teach Early Childhood?
Teaching early childhood education is a powerful and meaningful career choice for several key reasons:
- Foundational Impact: The early years (birth to age 8) are crucial for brain development. Educators in this field help lay the groundwork for lifelong learning, behavior, and health.
- Shaping Social and Emotional Skills: Early childhood educators play a central role in helping children learn how to communicate, cooperate, and build emotional intelligence—skills that are just as vital as academics.
- Inspiring a Love for Learning: These teachers often introduce children to the joy of discovery and learning, fostering curiosity and enthusiasm that can last a lifetime.
- Closing Opportunity Gaps: Quality early education can help bridge disparities caused by socioeconomic differences, giving all children a better chance to succeed.
- Personal Fulfillment: Many find deep satisfaction in working with young children, seeing their progress, and knowing they’re making a tangible difference in children’s lives.
- Professional Growth: The field offers ongoing opportunities for development in areas like child psychology, curriculum design, and leadership.
Career Information
Many early childhood educators work in community and private preschools. Preschool teachers in Hawaii earn an average of $41,540 per year, with most salaries ranging between $37,500 and $47,480 annually (need citation)
Within public schools, the large majority of preschools are for serving students with disabilities, therefore requiring a teaching license in early childhood special education. Beginning in 2023, Hawai‘i has begun opening more public general education preschools in the state. Therefore, there is a growing need to have fully licensed teachers in the field of early childhood education to fill these new classrooms. Early childhood education teachers who teach in the public school setting would fall under the standard teacher salary range provided to all teachers. As of 2024-2025 SY, the starting salary for all licensed teachers range from $53,390 – $68,753 and teachers can advance in pay throughout their career towards a salary of $101,371 as a 10-month employee. In addition, Hawaii offers salary differentials to teachers who are licensed and are teaching in the highest need fields and the highest need geographical areas:
- Special Education early childhood teachers = + $10,000
- Hawaiian Language Immersion early childhood teachers = + $8,000
- All early childhood teachers in the following hard-to-fill geographic locales:
- Tier 1: Kea‘au & Pāhoa Complex Areas = + $3,000
- Tier 2: Kealakehe, Kohala, Konawaena and Lahainaluna Complex Areas = + $5,000
- Tier 3: Honoka‘a and Ka‘u Complex Areas = + $7,500
- Tier 4: Hāna, Lāna‘i, Moloka‘i, Nānakuli, and Wai‘anae Complex Areas, as well as, Olomana School and Hawai‘i School for the Deaf and Blind = + $8,000
Note: Salary differentials are stackable (e.g., an early childhood special education Hawaiian Language Immersion teacher in Nānakuli could earn an additional $26,000 per year). Differentials are contingent on annual renewal of state budget and funding.
Licensure Information
To become a licensed teacher in the state of Hawai‘i, individuals must have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher and must complete a State Approved Teacher Education Program (SATEP). Regardless of the type of degree completed prior (e.g., bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral), all individuals wanting to become a licensed teacher must still return to school to complete a SATEP. At UH Mānoa’s College of Education, we provide many different pathway options to meet the varying needs of those looking to pursue their license. For example, 2-for-1 pathways are built into our bachelor and master’s degree options where individuals can earn their SATEP licensure while also completing their degree. For those who have already earned a bachelor’s degree or higher and want to focus exclusively on obtaining their SATEP license, we offer Post Baccalaureate Certificate pathways that are specially designed to be shorter (typically 18 months), and are offered as part-time program options that may best accommodate those already working in schools. To learn more about the process of becoming a licensed teacher and the different pathways available, we highly encourage all prospective students to attend one of our monthly virtual teacher licensure information sessions: coe.hawaii.edu/info-sessions.
Once an individual completes a SATEP program and earns their initial teaching license, it is possible to expand their teaching qualifications to other content areas and grade levels through an “Add-a-Teaching-Field” option through the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board. There are many options available, such as completing a specialized add-a-teaching-field program, passing the Praxis certification exam in the new field, or by having 30 credits (with atleast half upper division) in the new field. To learn more about add-a-teaching-field options, please visit: https://hawaiiteacherstandardsboard.org/content/add-a-teaching-field/
Early Childhood Education is one of the only licensure fields that can not be added to a different teaching license just by passing the Praxis exam. As of 2017, the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board requires that all teachers in other fields looking to add early childhood to their teaching license must enroll in a SATEP program specifically in early childhood education: https://hawaiiteacherstandardsboard.org/content/wp-content/uploads/NBI-17-06-Rev-ECE-Added-Field-Requirements-Rev.pdf
Program Information & Options
The College of Education at UH Mānoa partners with many state community colleges that offer associate degree pathways in early childhood education. Those who complete their associate degrees through these programs can seamlessly transition to one of our UH Mānoa bachelor degrees with an early childhood licensure track.
Partner Associate Degree options: Although these programs do not end with teacher licensure, they provide professional development and a seamless pathway to continue on for one of our bachelor degree pathways that will provide the SATEP license. For those who are just getting started with their college pathway, we recommend considering starting with one of our partner community college pathways:
- AS in Early Childhood Education, Preschool Option from Honolulu Community College
- AS in Human Services w/Early Childhood Specialization from Maui College
- AS in Early Childhood Education from Kauai Community College
- AS in Early Childhood Education from Hawaii Community College
Bachelor Degree options: There are two bachelor of education pathways available that lead to a license in early childhood education:
- Bachelor of Education in Elementary Education
- Early Childhood Care in Education track (offered in odd years only: 2027, 2029, 2031, etc)
- Early Childhood & Early Childhood Special Education track (offered in even years only: 2026, 2028, 2030, etc)
Post Baccalaureate Certificate options: For those who already have a bachelor’s degree, we offer a post bac certificate program for initial licensure in early childhood special education.
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Early Childhood Education, not currently available, but may become available in the future. Complete this interest form to be notified of any updates: https://bit.ly/uhmcoenewprograminterest
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Special Education, PK-3 option in either mild/moderate disabilities or severe disabilities/autism
Master Degree options: For those who already have a bachelor’s degree, we offer a graduate program for initial licensure or as an add-a-field certification for those who are licensed in other fields
Add-a-Teaching-Field options: For those who are already licensed in another teaching field, we offer a variety of early childhood SATEP pathways.
- Special Education Add-a-Teaching-Field (For general early childhood licensed teachers who would like to add on special education)
- Graduate Certificate, Early Childhood Education
- MEd in Curriculum Studies, Early Childhood Education
Funding Opportunities
Hawai‘i Early Childhood Educator Stipend Program: The State of Hawaiʻi Executive Office of Early Learning (EOEL) and University of Hawaiʻi, in partnership with generous funding from the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation, is proud to offer a tuition stipend to current and potential early childhood educators and caregivers! Stipends are available to students enrolled in qualified college-level Early Childhood Education (ECE) certificate and degree programs throughout the University of Hawaiʻi college system. To learn more, refer to the following resources or email ece@hawaii.edu
Financial Aid & Scholarships: Browse through all the different funding opportunities on our website: coe.hawaii.edu/funding
Getting to Know Us
Meet some of our students, alumni, and faculty in the field of early childhood education!
Get Started
To get started, choose the program you are most interested in and review the website to learn more about eligibility, program format and design, as well as when the next admissions period would be.
If you haven’t already, complete the “Request More Info” form and list which program you are interested in. By completing the interest form, you can connect with the appropriate advisor for that program and you will also be notified when the next application period opens. The advisor can help determine if there are any additional requirements you would need to complete prior to starting the program.
Need help deciding what is right for you?
If you’re unsure which program or pathway is the best fit for you, connect with our recruitment specialist to explore and discuss your options!