Principles of Management
Self-paced online Principles of Management course (Business 101). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
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How to become a child-care director in Texas: the credit-hour routes
By the team. Checked 15 Nov 2026.
The short answer
To become a child care director in Texas at a center licensed for 13 or more children, you must be 21, hold a high school diploma or equivalent and meet one of seven routes in 26 TAC 746.1015. Each pairs education, such as a degree or credit hours in child development and management, with one to three years' center experience.
The seven routes side by side
HHSC's minimum standards print the routes as a figure in 746.1015. Experience means work in a licensed child-care center as a director, assistant director or caregiver working directly with children, full-time or the part-time equivalent.
| Route | Education | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bachelor degree with 12 child development and 6 management credit hours | 1 year |
| 2 | AAS in child development or closely related field, 6 child development and 6 management | 2 years |
| 3 | 60 credit hours with 9 child development and 6 management | 2 years |
| 4 | Community college child-care administrator's certificate, 15 child development and 3 management | 2 years |
| 5 | 6 management hours plus a CDA or CCP credential | 2 years |
| 6 | Approved day-care administrator's credential | 2 years |
| 7 | 9 child development and 9 management | 3 years |
Which route fits you
If you already have a bachelor degree in any subject, route 1 is often fastest: add the child development and management hours you lack and one year of experience. If you have about 60 college credit hours but no degree, route 3 asks for nine child development and six management hours within them. Caregivers with a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential often look at route 5, which adds six management hours to the credential.
Route 7 needs no degree at all, but asks for nine hours each of child development and management and three years of experience.
- Bachelor degree: route 1
- Some college, no degree: route 3
- CDA or CCP credential: route 5
- No degree, long experience: route 7
Experience that counts
Under 746.1021, center experience is work as a director, assistant director or caregiver with children in a licensed or certified center, including one in another state or country. It must be full-time, at least 30 hours a week, or the part-time equivalent, and it can be paid or unpaid.
746.1023 allows some substitutes for one year of the required experience: a year of full-time teaching in pre-kindergarten to third grade at an accredited school, or a year of post-graduate study in child development or a closely related field.
Proving it to Licensing
When a center names a new director, it sends Licensing a Personal History Statement, a director designation form, and either a director's certificate or original transcripts or training certificates, plus details that support the experience, within five days (746.1039). Licensing can verify experience with past employers.
If asked, the center must also give course catalog descriptions or syllabi so Licensing can decide whether each course counts as child development or management.
Filling the gaps
Most candidates are short of either child development or management hours. Child development hours usually come from early childhood courses at a community college or from approved training clock hours, at 50 clock hours or five CEUs for every three credit hours. Management hours can come from business, accounting or supervisory courses.
UPI Study offers management-type courses such as Principles of Management and Human Resources Management in PRO at $99 a month. UPI Study is not accredited; its credit counts only via a college transcript from a partner college such as TESU, UoPeople or Newlane, and Licensing decides whether it counts. Ask Child Care Regulation in writing first.
What to ask in writing
Before you enrol
Ask Child Care Regulation to confirm in writing that a course will count as management credit before you enrol.
UPI Study is not a college and is not accredited. ACE and NCCRS review our courses and recommend credit; a college decides whether to give that credit and records it on its own transcript.
ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
Questions people ask
Do I need a degree to be a Texas child-care director?
No. Routes 4 to 7 in 746.1015 do not need a degree. Route 7, for example, asks for nine child development and nine management credit hours with three years of experience in a licensed center.
Can teaching experience count as center experience?
Partly. 746.1023 lets one year of full-time teaching in pre-kindergarten to third grade at an accredited school stand in for one year of the required center experience. Ask Licensing how it applies to your record.
How long does Licensing have to be told about a new director?
746.1039 says the center submits the director's forms and education documents within five days of designating a new director, or with a new permit application. Licensing may then check the experience with past employers, so keep their contact details.
Courses that fit
ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended courses, studied online at your own pace.
Human Resources Management
Self-paced online Human Resources Management course (Business 306). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →
Business Essentials
Self-paced online Business Essentials course (Business 100). NCCRS recommends 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →Start when you have it in writing
Management courses in one plan; ask Child Care Regulation in writing first.
Sources
- HHSC Child Care Regulation: Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers (Chapter 746, revised December 2025; read from the Internet Archive copy of https://www.hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/doing-business-with-hhs/provider-portal/protective-services/ccl/min-standards/chapter-746-centers.pdf) (official)746.1015 (13+ children): age 21, diploma or equivalent, and one of: (1) bachelor degree with 12 credit hours child development and 6 management + 1 year experience in a licensed center; (2) AAS in child development or closely related field with 6 child development and 6 management + 2 years; (3) 60 credit hours with 9 child development and 6 management + 2 years; (4) community college child-care administrator's certificate with at least 15 child development and 3 management + 2 years; (5) 6 management hours with a CDA or CCP credential + 2 years; (6) approved day-care administrator's credential + 2 years; (7) 9 child development and 9 management + 3 years. 746.1017 (12 or fewer): lower management hours (3). 746.1027 child development courses (abnormal psychology and secondary education not recognised). 746.1029 management courses: administration of a child-care facility, recreational leadership, accounting, goal setting, performance planning and evaluation, management techniques, risk management and other administrative, management or supervisory courses; office machines or computer training not recognised. 746.1031 original transcripts plus catalog description or syllabus if requested. 746.1037 50 clock hours or 5 CEUs may replace every 3 college credit hours in child development and management. 746.1021 experience is full-time (30+ hours a week) in a licensed center. Checked on 15 Nov 2026.
- HHSC: Become a Child Day Care Director in Texas (official)HHSC's director page points to 26 TAC 746.1015 and 746.1017 for the director qualifications and to Child Care Regulation for questions. Checked on 15 Nov 2026.