Best Child Development Schools Near Huntsville, AL (2026)

Huntsville, Alabama has 5 accredited schools offering child development programs, with tuition ranging from $4,772 to $17,756 per year for indexed programs. Huntsville has a population of about 230,402. In Alabama, the top-earning child development-related role is Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education at a median $50,900 annually (BLS, May 2025).


Closest Child Development Schools to Huntsville

The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer child development programs near Huntsville, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Huntsville city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.

How We Rank Schools

Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:

  • Graduation rate 30%
  • Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
  • Average net price (lower is better) 20%
  • Retention rate 15%
  • Fully online availability 10%

Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Huntsville. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.

Ranked by BOC Score โ€” U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.

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#1

Oakwood University

Huntsville, AL 4.1 miles from Huntsville
  • 4 year
  • Offers a fully online program
32.5 BOC Score
Graduation rate 49%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry $42,488
Avg net price $25,669/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Contact
Key stats
  • Retention rate: 67%
  • Programs offered: 41

Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard

Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Alabama schools on the Alabama child development page.


Child Development Wages Near Huntsville

Huntsville is part of the Huntsville, AL metro area (BLS area code 26620). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Alabama statewide.

Occupation Median Wage Source COL-Adjusted (US=100)
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education $28,760 Huntsville, AL $30,892
Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare $41,990 Huntsville, AL $45,102
Child, Family, and School Social Workers $46,860 Huntsville, AL $50,333
Childcare Workers $23,110 Huntsville, AL $24,823
Special Education Teachers, Preschool N/A AL statewide
Social and Human Service Assistants $36,070 Huntsville, AL $38,743
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education $50,900 AL statewide $54,672
Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other N/A AL statewide

Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.


Huntsville at a Glance

Metric Value Source
Regional Price Parity (US=100) 93.1 (below U.S. average) BEA RPP 2024

Other Huntsville-Area Cities With Child Development Programs


Frequently Asked Questions

How many accredited child development schools are near Huntsville, AL?

Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering child development programs near Huntsville. The closest is Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL (4.1 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Samford University (85.6 miles). 5 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.

What are the highest-paying child development roles near Huntsville?

Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying child development-related roles near Huntsville are: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education ($50,900), Child, Family, and School Social Workers ($46,860), Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare ($41,990). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Alabama statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.

Should I look at programs in Madison instead of Huntsville?

Madison, AL is 6.6 miles from Huntsville and has its own set of local child development programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.

How do I verify a program is accredited?

Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.


Learn More About Child Development Programs

Other Programs Available in Huntsville

Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Huntsville:

Data verified: September 5, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024โ€“2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.