Competency-Based B.A. in Early Childhood Education: Your Gateways Credential Counts as Credit

Built for working early childhood professionals. NLU's Competency-Based ECE degree lets your Gateways credentials, associate's degree, and real-world experience count toward your bachelor's, so you spend less time in coursework and more time advancing your career.

  • Gateways Credentials Count as Credit
  • Prior Learning Assessment Accepted
  • Five Learning Journeys
  • 100% Online, Competency-Based

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Why Choose NLU for Early Childhood Education?

Gateways = Credit
Your credential waives major coursework

Gateways Levels 2, 3, and 4 each unlock course waivers, so you build on what you already know instead of starting over.

Mastery, Not Seat Time
Competency-based and self-paced

You progress by demonstrating mastery on assessments, designed for experienced professionals who can move faster than a traditional course timeline.

5 Learning Journeys
Shape the degree around your career

Licensure, ESL/Bilingual, Infant-Toddler, Special Education, or Administration, each leading to its own credential outcome.

Field at Your Workplace
For the Licensure Journey

Field experience can often be completed at your current ECE worksite with approval, so you do not have to leave your job.

$37,120
Median, preschool teachers (BLS, May 2024)

Plus director and administrator roles in community-based early care and education.

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Program at a Glance

What format?
100% Online
Competency-based, mastery-paced for working educators
What counts?
Gateways Credit
Your Gateways credential waives major coursework
How many paths?
5 Journeys
Licensure, ESL/Bilingual, Infant-Toddler, Special Ed, Admin
What salary?
$37,120
Median, preschool teachers (BLS, May 2024)

What You'll Learn

  • Apply evidence-based practices in early childhood settings
  • Design developmentally appropriate, equity-informed curriculum
  • Use Gateways credentials and prior learning toward your degree
  • Earn credentials aligned to your Learning Journey
  • Lead in community-based early care and education settings
  • Pursue an Illinois PEL through the optional Licensure Journey

Full Course List

Evidence-Based Practice
The research-grounded core of the competency-based major, completed at NLU.
Environments
Building safe, responsive early childhood environments. Waived with a Gateways Level 2 ECE credential.
Development
How young children grow and learn. Waived with a Gateways Level 4 ECE credential.
Curriculum
Designing and assessing developmentally appropriate curriculum.
Equity and Ethics
Teaching responsively and ethically in diverse early childhood settings.
Inclusion
Methods of teaching young children with disabilities.
Policy
Program-level operations and policy. Eligible for Credit for Prior Learning by portfolio.
Learning Journey
Licensure, ESL/Bilingual, Infant-Toddler, Special Education, or Administration coursework that shapes your credential outcome.

Next start: September 21, 2026 — seats filling fast.

Admissions Requirements

  • A Gateways to Opportunity ECE Level 2 credential or higher (or a completed associate's with ECE coursework and a pending Gateways Level 2 application)
  • At least one year of work experience in early childhood education
  • Proof of your Gateways credential via Professional Development Record or active application
  • Licensure Journey applicants must document access to an approved ECE field placement site
  • Online application at nl.edu with no application fee
Request Info
Your Credentials Do the Work

If you hold a Gateways to Opportunity ECE credential, those levels translate directly into waived major coursework. A 90 QH associate's with a Gateways Level 4 credential can transfer in full, entering you at junior status.

Five Learning Journeys

Choose the path that matches your goals: Licensure (Illinois PEL), ESL/Bilingual, Infant-Toddler, Special Education, or Administration, each shaping the degree and its credential outcome.

Field Experience at Your Workplace

The competency-based format lets you demonstrate mastery at your own pace, and Licensure Journey field experience can often be completed at your current ECE worksite with approval.

Where Will Your Degree Take You?

$37,120
Median, preschool teachers (BLS, May 2024)
Preschool or Lead Teacher
Early Childhood Program Director
Infant-Toddler Specialist
ESL or Bilingual Educator
Early Childhood Special Educator
K-2 Teacher (With the Licensure Journey)

NLU’s Competency-Based ECE graduates advance in the early childhood field they already work in, often without leaving their jobs. The Learning Journey framework means you leave not just with a degree, but with the Gateways, state, or licensure credentials aligned to where your career is going, from lead teacher to program director to a licensed K-2 teaching role through the optional Licensure Journey.

Preschool teaching carries a median salary of $37,120 and is projected to grow about 4 percent through 2034, with director and administrator roles paying more (BLS, May 2024). Because the program recognizes your Gateways credentials and prior learning as credit, you reach those roles with less time and cost than starting over.

Get Started Now

How to Apply in 3 Simple Steps

  1. Request Information

    Submit the form above. An NLU advisor will reach out within one business day to discuss your Gateways credential level and Learning Journey options.

  2. Connect With an Advisor

    Your advisor reviews your Gateways credentials, work experience, and prior coursework to map exactly how much credit you can bring in and which Learning Journey fits your goals.

  3. Apply and Start Classes

    Submit your application at nl.edu with no application fee, including documentation of your Gateways credential. Next start: September 21, 2026.

Get Started

Take the First Step

No commitment required. An NLU advisor will reach out within one business day to map your path to an Illinois early childhood teaching license.

Take the First Step
  • Gateways Credentials Count as Credit
  • Prior Learning Assessment Accepted
  • Five Learning Journeys
  • 100% Online, Competency-Based

*Salary data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Preschool Teachers (SOC 25-2011), May 2024.

**Program structure, Gateways credit, Learning Journeys, and curriculum: SmartCatalog, National Louis University, Early Childhood Education Competency-Based B.A. (nl.smartcatalogiq.com, current catalog).