Indianapolis, Indiana has 4 accredited schools offering child development programs, with tuition ranging from $5,154 to $41,221 per year for indexed programs. Indianapolis has a population of about 1,550,488. In the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area, the top-earning child development-related role is Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare at a median $58,540 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
Closest Child Development Schools to Indianapolis
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer child development programs near Indianapolis, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Indianapolis 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:
BOCSCORE
- 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 Indianapolis.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Graduation rate
38%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$37,186
Avg net price
$7,258/yr
TuitionIn‑state$5,154
Out‑of‑state$9,935
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Indiana schools on the Indiana child development page.
Child Development Wages Near Indianapolis
Indianapolis is part of the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN metro area (BLS area code 26900). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Indiana statewide.
| Occupation |
Median Wage |
Source |
COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
| Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education |
$37,030 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$38,694 |
| Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare |
$58,540 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$61,170 |
| Child, Family, and School Social Workers |
$50,470 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$52,738 |
| Childcare Workers |
$30,650 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$32,027 |
| Special Education Teachers, Preschool |
$46,740 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$48,840 |
| Social and Human Service Assistants |
$46,550 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$48,642 |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education |
$56,360 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$58,892 |
| Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other |
$51,120 |
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN |
$53,417 |
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.
Indianapolis at a Glance
| Metric |
Value |
Source |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) |
95.7 (below U.S. average) |
BEA RPP 2024 |
Other Indianapolis-Area Cities With Child Development Programs
- Lawrence, IN – 10.3 mi away (47,866 pop)
- Greenwood, IN – 12.3 mi away (56,545 pop)
- Carmel, IN – 13.0 mi away (91,065 pop)
- Brownsburg, IN – 13.2 mi away (25,408 pop)
- Plainfield, IN – 13.2 mi away (31,409 pop)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many accredited child development schools are near Indianapolis, IN?
Our directory has 4 accredited schools offering child development programs near Indianapolis. The closest is Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, IN (2.0 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Miami University-Oxford (77.4 miles). 4 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
What are the highest-paying child development roles near Indianapolis?
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying child development-related roles near Indianapolis are: Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare ($58,540), Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education ($56,360), Community and Social Service Specialists, All Other ($51,120). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Indiana statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Should I look at programs in Lawrence instead of Indianapolis?
Lawrence, IN is 10.3 miles from Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Indianapolis:
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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 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
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