BS Birth-Kindergarten Education

The program offers a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in either early childhood or professional education. Taught by special education and early childhood education professionals, the program provides all students with a rigorous curriculum, plentiful resources and valuable experiences in working with young children and their families. Typically, students interested in teaching in a public school setting choose the professional education concentration, which leads to licensure, while those interested in working with children in non-public school or classroom settings choose the early childhood concentration. Both concentrations share core courses that reflect the knowledge base that all early childhood professionals should hold. Internships are a required experience for the professional education concentration students.

Graduates of WCU’s Birth-Kindergarten Program can expect to find immediate employment in a wide variety of settings. Examples of career options for early childhood concentration graduates include home-based early intervention specialist and child care resource and referral specialist. Because professional education concentration graduates are typically interested in careers as classroom teachers, they might teach in a public school kindergarten or with Head Start or N.C.