CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES
Associate in Arts
Program Details
The Child Development and Family Studies Associate of Arts degree prepares students to work with children and their families, in a variety of settings, including direct services, advocacy/public policy, family support, and early intervention. Child development and family studies courses provide students with valuable knowledge and transferable skills that are applicable in their personal and family lives as well as in the workplace. Additionally, a Child Development and Family Studies Associate of Arts degree, coupled with the Child and Adolescent Development Associate in Arts for Transfer degree, will provide a strong foundation for pursuing studies in child development, and related fields focusing on children and their families, at four-year institutions.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES Pathways
Pathways listed below are for the catalog year 2026-2027. Maps for previous years are available on each pathway page. What is a catalog year?
Featured Careers
Find your calling. Explore high-earning careers with entry-level data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Art Therapists
Master's degree
- Job growth: Rising
- Low salary: 38,840
- High salary: 120,050
- Average salary: 65010
Childcare Workers
High school diploma/GED, Associate's degree
- Job growth: Rising
- Low salary: 22,900
- High salary: 44,560
- Average salary: 32050
Clinical Neuropsychologists
Post-doctoral training
- Job growth: Stable
- Low salary: 51,410
- High salary: 163,570
- Average salary: 117580
All Careers in CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY STUDIES (11)
| Clinical Neuropsychologists | Post-doctoral training | Stable | 117,580 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neuropsychologists | Post-doctoral training, Doctoral degree | Stable | 117,580 |
| Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary | Doctoral degree, Master's degree | Stable | 77,280 |
| Education Teachers, Postsecondary | Doctoral degree | Stable | 72,090 |
| Art Therapists | Master's degree | Rising | 65,010 |
| Music Therapists | Bachelor's degree, Master's degree | Rising | 65,010 |
| Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | Bachelor's degree, Master's degree | Declining | 62,340 |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | Bachelor's degree, Master's degree | Declining | 61,430 |
| Farm and Home Management Educators | Master's degree, Bachelor's degree | Declining | 58,120 |
| Childcare Workers | High school diploma/GED, Associate's degree | Rising | 32,050 |
| Nannies | High school diploma/GED, Some college | Rising | 32,050 |
Program Pathways Mapper incorporates information from O*NET Web Services by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes help you work towards your educational goals.
- Apply effective guidance and interaction strategies that support children's social and emotional development and promote positive and reciprocal relationships among culturally and linguistically diverse children and their families.
- Demonstrate an understanding of human development theory and the multiple interacting influences on a child's development, including family school, community, and culture.
- Demonstrate knowledge of physical, emotional, social, and cognitive developmental changes and understand why early development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior, and health.
- Describe the community's role in supporting and strengthening families, identify community resources, and explain how agencies can provide more culturally competent services.
- Recognize that the family is a complex social system in which members interact to influence each other's behavior, emotional well-being, and health in functional and dysfunctional ways, and apply this understanding to self, family, and career.