Early Childhood and Family Policy
Certificate
The Early Childhood and Family Policy online graduate certificate program is designed to equip you with the knowledge and experience you need to directly inform policies that can improve the well-being of children and families.
- Are you interested in leveraging your research to directly impact children and families through policy change?
- Are you enthusiastic about using your research to transform the human experience and inspire leaders?
- Are you ready to invest in your future and elevate your work to inform substantial, durable, and equitable policy changes that benefit young children?
Policymakers are looking for reliable research evidence to inform their decisions and today’s scholars are well positioned to provide it. The Early Childhood and Family Policy certificate program is designed to equip you with the knowledge and experiences you need to elevate your work to directly inform policies that can improve the well-being of children and families.
Careers
Local Government
State and Federal Government
Non-Governmental Agencies with Advocacy Departments
Organizations associated with the United Nations and World and Regional Banks
Advocacy Agencies
University/Research-based Organizations
What You Will Learn
The Innovative Digital Education Alliance (IDEA) Early Childhood and Family Policy (ECFP) online graduate certificate program builds essential skills in policy development, analysis, and communication. Students develop an interdisciplinary lens to facilitate an understanding of the impact of early childhood and family policies across a range of systems that address issues such as health care, education, child care, family leave, mental health, child abuse and neglect, incarceration of parents, and minimum wage. This graduate certificate places individuals at the helm of a new era of policies that have an impact on children and families. The ECFP program will enable individuals to advance the knowledge, skills, and competencies of those working on behalf of children and families, but perhaps not directly with them.
Learning Objectives for the ECFP Online Graduate Certificate
Students in this program will:
- Evaluate equity and effectiveness of early childhood and family policy using theory and a variety of tools.
- Propose and advocate for equitable and effective early childhood and family policy.
- Communicate with a wide range of stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, researchers, educators, and advocates) using varied formats (e.g., multimedia presentations, written reports, and oral presentations).
Collaborate in Unique Ways
The ECFP online graduate certificate is offered through IDEA, a consortium of renown universities that collaborate to offer online, flexible, affordable programs. Because UNL is a member of IDEA, you have the unique opportunity to take classes from multiple, high-quality universities and expand your network by collaborating with classmates and expert faculty from across the country. Learn more about the ECFP program on the IDEA website.
How does IDEA work? After you apply and are admitted to the ECFP program at UNL, you’ll take classes online from any one of the partner universities. Each university uses its own learning management system (LMS) to deliver online course content, which you will use to complete all coursework. When you complete all four courses, the certificate will be awarded by UNL. Watch this video to learn more about how IDEA works.
Application to this program
Course Registration
Your IDEA campus coordinator will send instructions and course registration materials for each course. You will register for the course and pay tuition and fees to your home institution.
Course Enrollment
There is only one enrollment process you need to complete through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, even though the course may be taught by another institution. All coursework completed will immediately be recorded on your UNL transcript.
Tuition and Fees
Tuition is $610.00 per credit hour for all distance education graduate students as of the 2024-2025 academic year. Anticipate yearly increases in tuition.
Required Materials:
- Graduate Studies application
- Academic transcripts
- Statement of purpose
- What personal and/or professional experiences have led you to want to pursue a graduate certificate in Early Childhood and Family Policy?
- What are your professional goals and how will this certificate help you achieve those?
- Resume
- One letter of recommendation
Degree Requirements
All ECFP courses are 8 weeks long and taught in the asynchronous online format. Students are recommended to take two courses per semester to complete the certificate program within a year. Students with a bachelor’s degree can complete this certificate program as a non-degree-seeking graduate student. Students in master’s or doctoral programs can complete this certificate program as part of their coursework toward their degree. Students wishing to receive a certificate while pursuing their master’s or doctoral degree should speak with their advisor first.
Course Code | Course Title | Schedule | Cr. |
| CYAF 831 | ECFP: History, Development, and Equity in Shaping Early Childhood Policy Provides an overview of the research on young children (birth to age five), demographics of this population, critical domains of development, significance of early brain development, and issues of inequality and disproportionality that deeply shape child outcomes. | Fall 1st 8 weeks | 3 |
| CYAF 832 | ECFP: Using a Policy Framework to Examine Early Childhood Services and Issues Provides opportunities to examine the practice of early childhood education and care and the role of families and policymakers in altering practices and policies. | Fall 2nd 8 weeks | 3 |
| CYAF 906 | ECFP: Policy Research in Early Childhood Provides opportunities to apply theories and policy tools to real-world examples; provides concrete opportunities to examine different, sometimes competing, analytic approaches and the contexts in which they are applied. | Spring 1st 8 weeks | 3 |
| CYAF 907 | ECFP: Policy Leadership and Advocacy in Early Childhood Provides a foundational knowledge of the fundamentals of policy creation, design, and development, with an emphasis on those policies that impact early childhood education and care. | Spring 2nd 8 weeks | 3 |
| 12 |
Students are encouraged to take four courses in sequence, so they can move along the program in cohorts. Once students successfully complete the four courses with a grade C or above, they will be considered program completers. Questions? Soo-Young Hong, Ph.D. shong5@unl.edu