What you’ll learn in this article…
- CUNY Brooklyn College graduates earn a median $81,371 five years out.
- CUNY's Hunter, City and Brooklyn colleges carry $25,523 to $27,668 median debt.
- Dual programs at Molloy or Wagner add semesters but widen hiring options.
Published tuition for the programs below runs from $11,398 at CUNY Hunter College to $27,520 at Molloy University, a gap of more than $16,000 before aid.
For many New York readers, the master's is not a pay-scale move. Career changers with a bachelor's in another field need the degree itself to earn initial Birth-Grade 2 certification, while working teachers use it to build toward professional certification. Scan the ranked list first, then check cost, certificate type and format against your own situation.
Either way, the degree only counts if the program is registered with NYSED for the exact certificate you need.
10 Best Early Childhood Education Master's Programs in New York for 2027
New York's early childhood master's programs split into two routes: degrees that lead to initial Birth to Grade 2 certification for career changers, and degrees that build on an existing certificate toward professional certification. The ten programs below cover both, from large SUNY and CUNY campuses to private colleges in the New York City suburbs and upstate. Formats range from fully online coursework to evening hybrid classes, so read the delivery line on each entry before you narrow your list.
- Student completion and graduation outcomes
- New York certification pathway fit
- Delivery format and scheduling flexibility
- Graduate tuition before cost-of-living adjustment
- Federal College Scorecard outcomes data — collegescorecard.ed.gov
- IPEDS institutional survey data from NCES covering graduate tuition — nces.ed.gov
- Program-level records maintained in house
- Independent editorial research
- State cost-of-living adjustment from BEA Regional Price Parities — bea.gov
| Rank | School | Location | Net price | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | SUNY Oneonta | Oneonta, NY | ~$13,000/yr (est.) | Upstate educators seeking birth to grade 2 certification | |
A SUNY campus in central New York where the Early Childhood Birth to Grade 2 track is one of several certification routes offered by the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education. Candidates can take the early childhood program as either an M.S.Ed. or an M.S.T., which lets you match the credential to where you are in your teaching career. Sibling tracks in Childhood (Grades 1-6) and Generalist (Grades 7-12) mean the same department covers every level a New York teacher might need.
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| #2 | State University of New York at Oswego | Oswego, NY | ~$13,000/yr (est.) | Cost-conscious teachers adding an early childhood specialization | |
Oswego delivers early childhood preparation through its M.S.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction, where the Birth to Grade 2 specialization is one of 18 concentration options inside a broader degree. That structure suits teachers who want an early childhood credential without giving up a curriculum and instruction frame. The program is AAQEP accredited, runs on rolling admission with three start terms a year, and requires no entrance exam. No entrance examRolling admissionsTest optional
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| #3 | University at Albany | Albany, NY | ~$14,000/yr (est.) | Part-time online learners balancing full-time teaching | |
Albany's M.S. in Early Childhood Education is built as an advanced pathway for teachers who already hold New York certification, adding professional certification for either Birth to Grade 2 or Grades 1-6 on the same core coursework. The curriculum covers literacy instruction, language acquisition and methods for science, math and social studies, with family partnerships and data-based decision-making woven through. Students can study part time online or full or part time on campus, with evening and summer classes available. No entrance exam
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| #4 | Niagara University | Niagara University, NY | ~$16,000/yr (est.) | ||
Niagara University runs a 39-credit M.S.Ed. in Early Childhood and Childhood Education that leads to initial certification from birth through grade 6, one of the wider age ranges on this list. It is designed for candidates who are not yet certified and includes student teaching plus a professional seminar. Graduates can pursue both New York State and Ontario certification, and full-time and part-time formats are available.
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| #5 | St Bonaventure University | Saint Bonaventure, NY | ~$16,000/yr (est.) | ||
St. Bonaventure offers an M.S.Ed. in Early Childhood Inclusive Special Education, a New York State-registered program that pairs early childhood study with inclusive special education preparation. It is the most specialized single offering on this list, which suits candidates who already know they want to work with young children with disabilities. Candidates should confirm credit counts, start terms and field placement details directly with the education department.
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| #6 | CUNY Brooklyn College | Brooklyn, NY | $10,000 – $15,000/yr (est.) | ||
Brooklyn College's Birth to Grade 2 M.S.Ed. runs online with required in-person fieldwork in New York City early childhood settings, which keeps students in real classrooms while coursework stays flexible. Candidates entering with prior certification can take a shorter path, and the program stacks bilingual and special education extensions on top of the base license. It is also one of the larger early childhood graduate programs in the CUNY system.
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| #7 | Iona University | New Rochelle, NY | $20,000 – $25,000/yr (est.) | ||
Iona's M.S.Ed. in Early Childhood Special Education is a 30-credit program for teachers who already hold initial New York State certification and want to work with young children with special needs. Hybrid delivery and evening courses let working teachers keep their classrooms while they study, and the degree can be finished in one to two years. A practicum and a thesis course are built into the sequence.
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| #8 | Molloy University | Rockville Centre, NY | ~$28,000/yr (est.) | ||
Molloy's graduate education offerings are built around dual certification, and the Childhood (Grades 1-6) and Early Childhood (Birth to Grade 2) track is the clearest example: one degree, two initial certificates. Candidates can also pair childhood grades with Students with Disabilities PreK-12 or TESOL PK-12. Hybrid and evening formats plus partnerships with local Long Island districts make it workable for teachers already in the classroom.
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| #9 | St. Francis College | Brooklyn, NY | ~$16,000/yr (est.) | ||
St. Francis College in Brooklyn offers a 36-credit M.S. in Early Childhood Education that prepares candidates for New York State Initial Certification in Early Childhood, Birth through Grade 2. The curriculum leans practical: early literacy, science inquiry, mathematics, music and movement, curriculum and assessment, plus required coursework in special education and literacy interventions for English language learners. A 40-day student teaching placement and a 3.0 GPA threshold shape the cohort.
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| #10 | CUNY Hunter College | New York, NY | ~$11,000/yr (est.) | ||
Hunter College's M.S.Ed. in Early Childhood Development and Learning: Diverse Children and Families is a part-time sequence that starts each fall and runs about twelve semesters, built for working teachers in New York City. Coursework covers child development, language and literacy, early childhood curriculum, and mathematical and scientific thinking, with field experience or student teaching that can be arranged around your current school. Students finish with a portfolio and a certification recommendation.
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How We Scored These New York Programs
Which New York programs give you the most for what you pay, and how many students actually finish? We weighed affordability, completion and outcomes together, so neither a low price nor a strong graduation rate could move a school up the list on its own.
What went into the scores
- Tuition and fees: Graduate tuition for each program, shown before any aid.
- Graduation rate: The share of students who finish at the institution as a whole.
- Program format: Whether the program runs on campus, hybrid or online.
- Earnings and debt: College Scorecard program-level figures, used only where the federal data publishes them. Several programs here have none, so they were scored on the remaining inputs.
Caveats worth knowing
Graduation rate describes the whole institution, not the early childhood program, so a school with a strong overall rate may look different for your cohort. Net price is an average after grant aid across students, and your own figure depends on your aid package. Tuition is the graduate price before scholarships or assistantships, so treat it as a starting point for comparison, not a bill.
What the ranking leaves out
It does not measure certification exam pass rates, faculty quality, advising, or how well a program fits your schedule and goals. Those factors matter, especially when you need initial certification. Before you apply, confirm current tuition, format, certification pathway and exam outcomes directly with each school's admissions or education office.
Initial Certification: What a NYSED-Registered Program Must Deliver
The core choice is whether you need a program that leads to a first license or one that builds on a certificate you already hold. That distinction shapes admissions, coursework and how much classroom time you will log.
Initial vs. Professional, in Plain Terms
New York issues teaching certificates at three levels: Initial, Conditional Initial and Professional. The Initial certificate is your entry license. Teachers typically move to the Professional certificate after earning a master's and gaining several years of classroom experience. Anyone holding an Initial or Conditional Initial certificate must receive mentoring during the first year of teaching in a public school district. The Early Childhood Education (Birth-Grade 2) title spans infants and toddlers through second grade, so coursework covers child development, play-based learning and early literacy.
Exams, Workshops and Fingerprints
Applications and fingerprint clearance both run through NYSED's TEACH system, and a criminal background check is required.2 Testing has shifted in recent years. In 2023, New York replaced edTPA with a teacher-performance assessment built into student teaching and aligned to the New York State Teaching Standards.1 NYSED has historically required the Educating All Students test, a content specialty test and workshops on child abuse identification, school violence prevention and the Dignity for All Students Act. These requirements change, so check NYSED's current list for your certificate title before you enroll.
Student Teaching and Fieldwork
Registered programs embed supervised student teaching and field placements, and that clinical work is now where the performance assessment happens. Hours, length and the mix of age groups vary by program. Ask each school how it arranges placements and whether you will work with infants and toddlers as well as preschool and early elementary students.
Do You Need a Certificate to Apply?
Not for initial-certification tracks. Programs labeled initial or dual initial certification, such as Molloy University's Childhood Education (1-6)/Early Childhood (Birth-Grade 2) M.S., are designed to lead to a first certificate. Other options assume you are already certified. CUNY City College runs a separate non-certification track, and curriculum and instruction degrees like those at SUNY Oswego and SUNY Potsdam typically serve working teachers pursuing the Professional level. Confirm admission requirements with each school.
Whatever you choose, verify that the program is NYSED-registered for the exact certificate title you want. A registered childhood or special education program will not automatically qualify you for Birth-Grade 2.
Tuition Breakdown: What You'll Pay Across New York Programs
Graduate tuition is the published price a school charges for coursework before any aid is applied, quoted either per academic year or per credit. In New York, the gap between public and private programs runs to tens of thousands of dollars.
What the public programs charge
Annual in-state graduate tuition and fees among the public options here run from roughly $11,398 at CUNY Hunter College to $13,808 at the University at Albany. CUNY City College ($11,402), Brooklyn College ($11,524), Lehman College ($11,570) and the College of Staten Island ($11,650) sit at the low end. The upstate SUNY campuses land slightly higher: Buffalo State at $12,208, Oneonta at $12,532, Oswego at $12,580 and Potsdam at $12,808. Out-of-state students pay close to double, from about $20,828 to $27,468.
Per-credit rates and total credits
Since most working teachers enroll part time, the per-credit rate tells you more than the annual figure. Hunter listed $470 per credit for New York residents in 2025-26, plus a $50 per-credit School of Education charge (an effective $520) and $153.45 in mandatory fees each semester. SUNY Oswego lists $471 per credit against 30 credits. Third-party listings place Brooklyn and Lehman near $470 per credit with semester fees between roughly $288 and $480, so verify both with the bursar. Private pricing is a different scale: one hybrid MAT in Westchester has been listed at $1,050 per credit across 49 credits, which is above $50,000 in tuition alone.
Credit totals move the final number as much as the rate does. Albany's online MS is 30 credits; Lehman's runs 36 to 42; Staten Island's sequences run 33 to 39; NYIT's spans 39 to 48.
Online pricing and budgeting
New York programs rarely publish a separate online rate. Albany's fully online M.S. uses the same coursework as its on-campus version, and Brooklyn College runs seminars online alongside in-person fieldwork. One caution: the federal net price figure on college search tools covers an entire institution and reflects undergraduates, so build your budget from each school's graduate tuition and fee schedule instead.
How Long It Takes and When Dual Certification Makes Sense
Finishing fast and finishing with two certificates pull in opposite directions, and you have to pick one before you apply. A single-certificate Birth-Grade 2 degree gets you into a classroom sooner; a dual program takes more semesters but widens the settings you can teach in.
Credits and calendar
Single-certificate early childhood master's degrees tend to sit in the 30-to-39-credit range. CUNY Brooklyn College lists 30 to 45 credits depending on your background, SUNY Oswego's Birth-Grade 2 concentration runs 30 credits over roughly two years, and St. Francis College requires 36. Dual-certification programs sit higher: Fordham's early childhood special education M.S.T. and Roberts Wesleyan's M.Ed. are each 45 credits, and the University of Mount Saint Vincent's dual M.S. is 46.1 Roberts Wesleyan estimates 16 to 28 months overall, four terms full-time or seven part-time. Niagara and the University at Albany both publish full-time and part-time pacing, which matters if you are teaching while enrolled.
Fieldwork is the scheduling problem
Coursework bends around a job. Student teaching usually does not. Expect a full-time semester in a classroom: Fordham splits student teaching across two semesters in general and special education settings, and Roberts Wesleyan pairs 150 field hours with a 14-week practicum.2 Hunter College lets some candidates use their worksite as a practicum site, and Molloy schedules evening and hybrid classes around working teachers. Ask early how your program handles release time.
Who should go dual
If you want to work in a self-contained, integrated, or early intervention setting, or you expect to teach in New York City where inclusive placements dominate, take the extra credits. If you already hold a certificate and want the professional one, the shorter single-certificate route is the better buy.
Online, Hybrid or on Campus: What New York Programs Really Offer
Can you finish a New York early childhood master's online and still walk away with state certification? Often yes, but the format line on a program page tells you less than the fieldwork line does.
Three formats, three commitments
Albany runs its M.S. in Early Childhood Education online or on campus, part-time or full-time. The College of Staten Island offers its M.S. fully online. SUNY Buffalo State's curriculum and instruction M.S.Ed. comes online or in person, though it is built for teachers who already hold New York initial certification.3 Brooklyn College is hybrid: online seminars and lectures paired with in-person fieldwork in New York City schools. Binghamton is the exception, on campus only, two years full-time, with field experiences and internships built into the schedule.2
The requirement that stays in a classroom
Siena College's online M.S. still requires in-person student teaching.1 If you complete student teaching outside New York, Siena will not recommend you for New York certification.1 Teachers College expects one semester of full-time student teaching, following state guidelines.
Out-of-state applicants and synchronous sessions
Albany accepts a teaching certificate from any state, and Staten Island accepts an equivalent certificate earned elsewhere. Some programs state their synchronous expectations, Iona's hybrid program advertises both asynchronous and synchronous options, while others leave the question open, so ask before you enroll. Other states write their own licensure rules, so a New York certificate is not automatically portable.
Short answer: the coursework can be fully online, but the certification path usually cannot.
What Do Early Childhood Master's Graduates in New York Earn?
Five years after finishing, early childhood master's graduates of CUNY Brooklyn College earn a median $81,371, the highest here, with CUNY City College and Wagner College close behind. Median program debt runs $25,523-$27,668 at Hunter, City College and Brooklyn College, compared with $36,656 at Hofstra. The CUNY programs pair top-tier earnings with some of the lowest borrowing on this page.
Schools in New York
- Bard College
- Binghamton University
- Canisius University
- Clarkson University
- Colgate University
- College of Staten Island CUNY
- Columbia University in the City of New York
- CUNY Brooklyn College
- CUNY City College
- CUNY Hunter College
- CUNY Lehman College
- CUNY Queens College
- Daemen University
- Dominican University New York
- Empire State University
- Fordham University
- Nazareth University
- New York Institute of Technology
- Niagara University
- Pace University
- Relay Graduate School of Education
- Roberts Wesleyan University
- Russell Sage College
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Siena College
- St Bonaventure University
- St. John's University-New York
- St. Thomas Aquinas College
- State University of New York at Cortland
- State University of New York at New Paltz
- State University of New York at Oswego
- Stony Brook University
- SUNY at Fredonia
- SUNY Brockport
- SUNY Buffalo State University
- SUNY College at Plattsburgh
- SUNY College at Potsdam
- SUNY Oneonta
Explore other New York related topics
Related Articles
Check NYSED registration for the certification you actually want before you compare anything else, then let tuition and fieldwork requirements narrow the shortlist.
More New York Early Childhood Graduate Programs Worth Exploring
The programs below extend the list beyond the top-ranked entries, reaching across New York from New York City to the North Country. Each entry gives the campus location, the delivery format and the program's own description of its coursework and field experiences. Several of these schools offer dual certification, bilingual extensions or evening and online options.
