Explore the landscape of early childhood education from previously unseen angles. Understand more about children and the sociocultural communities they inhabit. Integrate these insights with examinations of classrooms and schools to better serve diverse populations of young children and their families.
UNT’s accelerated online Master of Science in Early Childhood Education program is designed for those who want to learn how to better respond to increasingly diverse populations through an inclusive, culturally responsive, and linguistically rich curriculum. Our master’s students critically examine the nature of early childhood classrooms, centers, and schools in order to reconceptualize what it means to teach and care for young children. This knowledge translates into skills that can be applied across research, policy, and practice settings, preparing our graduates to be advocates for children — whether it be better teachers, more reflective administrators, or more critical researchers and policymakers.
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Admission to the master's program in Early Childhood Education is a two-step process. Each applicant must first apply to and meet the general admission requirements of UNT's Toulouse Graduate School. Then, applications for students who meet initial admission standards are forwarded to the Early Childhood Studies Admissions Committee for review and final decision.
Program deadline dates
For fall enrollment: July 1
For spring enrollment: Nov 15
For summer enrollment: April 1
Apply to Toulouse Graduate School
You must be admitted to the Toulouse Graduate School before enrolling in the accelerated online program. Conditional acceptance to the graduate school can be granted if you meet program requirements.
Submit your application at applytexas.org and choose the "Master of Science degree in Early Childhood Education" in the degree plan list. Confirm that you are applying for the accelerated online program when prompted near the end of the application process.
Request an official transcript of your records from each college or university that you have attended and have them sent to the Toulouse Graduate School. All transcripts are required but unofficial transcripts will be accepted with your application while official transcripts are being processed.
By U.S. Postal Service:
Toulouse Graduate School
1155 Union Circle #305459, Denton, TX 76203-5017
By UPS/FedEx:
Toulouse Graduate School
1147 Union Circle, ESSC 354, Denton, TX 76203-5459
Pay the $75 application fee at the time you apply.
You will be notified of your acceptance to the graduate school by mail and through my.unt.edu.
Admission decisions will be made based on a holistic review of applicant qualifications.
Submit the following documents electronically to MS-EarlyChildhoodEd@unt.edu for admittance to the College of Education's accelerated online master's program:
Three satisfactory letters of reference, on letterhead, from professionals who address the applicant's ability to successfully pursue graduate study.
A 3-4 page double-spaced essay explaining the purpose for undertaking graduate study at UNT, including professional plans or career goals and a discussion of professional interests related to early childhood education.
A resume detailing your professional experience.
Check Status Online
You can check your application status:
To check if your transcripts and entrance exam scores have been submitted:
The Toulouse Graduate School will send you an email and pin number to check online at my.unt.edu. You will need to activate your EUID with the pin number and click on Admissions Status.
Admission of International Students
Applicants who do not hold either U.S. citizenship or U.S. permanent resident alien status should apply to the UNT Graduate International Admissions.
An international applicant's bachelor's degree should be equivalent to a U.S. four-year bachelor's degree.
All documents should be submitted at least six months before enrollment date.
We're here to help you every step of the way. Call 940-565-3290 or e-mail MS-EarlyChildhoodEd@unt.edu. with questions or to find out the status of your application.
Visit the Registrar's website for more information on course registration dates and payment deadlines.
The accelerated delivery provides five course start times per year. Courses will be offered in 8-weeks sessions during the long semester or shorter during the summer session. Students who maintain the accelerated 30-hour course sequence can complete course work in 12 months.
Required courses, 30 hours
Fall 8W1 (August to October)
EDEC 5513 - (3 hrs) Advanced Studies in Early Childhood Education
EDEC 5613 - (3 hrs) Curriculum Theory in Early Childhood Education
Fall 8W2 (October to December)
EDEC 5013 - (3 hrs) Research Strategies in Early Childhood Education
EDEC 5643 - (3 hrs) Leadership and Supervision of Programs
Apply for financial aid online at fafsa.gov. The application is required for all types of financial aid, including Pell and other federal grants, state grants and loans. The FAFSA and Renewal FAFSA are available annually.
You must enroll in 6 hours (over one or two online sessions) in order to be eligible for financial aid.
Financial aid awards will be disbursed 10 days prior to the first day of class. Awards will not disburse if you are enrolled in only 3 credit hours.
Contact Student Financial Aid and Scholarships at 940-565-2302 or by visiting online at financialaid.unt.edu
Kyoung Jin Kim, Ph. D., is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Teacher Education and Administration. She received a Ph. D. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining UNT, she was an assistant professor at Arkansas State University, Ball State University, and Wheelock College. In addition, she was a Clinical Assistant Professor at Boston University. Her teaching in higher education has a wide range of both undergraduate and graduate courses including child development, principles of early childhood education, foundations in communication and collaboration with families, professionals, and communities, teaching, and curriculum in diverse early childhood settings, practicum courses, action research, nurturing children’s social competence, environmental processes, and assessment, learning with/from children, advanced studies in early childhood education, and documenting young children’s learning and development.
All of her teaching experiences inspired her research. Providing a high-quality program for young children is her central interest. She researched program quality in education, teacher evaluation, teacher efficacy in working with diverse families, and professional development to assess teacher quality. Curriculum-wise, she examined many effective programs on different instructional approaches on diverse subject matters such as math, science, art, and critical literacy. Lastly, as diversity is another streamline of her research, she examined racial diversity through role-playing as well as reflected on her own experience as an immigrant mother and teacher educator focusing on diversity and working with immigrant children and families. Her scholarly works have been published in journals such as the International Journal of Early Childhood, Journal of Research in Early Childhood, Journal of Research in Early Childhood, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Early Childhood Development and Care, and Early Childhood Education.
Dr. Michelle Salazar Pérez is the Velma E. Schmidt Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Education & Professor of Early Childhood Studies at the University of North Texas. She uses women of color feminisms to inform her community collaborations, research, and pedagogy. These perspectives not only critically orient her work, but they also foreground the urgency to re-envision the field to support culturally sustaining praxis and programs for minoritized young children.
Dr. Pérez’s past and current scholarship addresses early childhood policy reform, historical and contemporary constructions of childhood/s, teacher education, and critical qualitative methodologies. Her work has been published in Teachers College Record, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, Equity & Excellence in Education, the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Qualitative Inquiry, and Review of Research in Education. She has co-edited several special issues and books, including The SAGE Handbook of Global Childhoods.
Dr. Pérez earned her Ph.D. from Arizona State University and her master's and undergraduate degrees from Texas A&M University in College Station. Prior to her appointment at the University of North Texas, she was a tenured Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at The University of Texas at Austin and New Mexico State University.
