BestOnlineCollege.org is an advertising-supported website. Many of the school and program listings that appear on this site are from partners who compensate us, and this compensation may affect how, where, and in what order listings appear (such as featured placements). This compensation does not influence our editorial content, evaluations, or rankings, which are determined independently using publicly available data. We do not review or feature every school or program available in the marketplace. Our goal is to provide accurate, unbiased information so you can make informed decisions. Read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
Merrillville, Indiana has 5 accredited schools offering early childhood education programs. Merrillville has a population of about 36,343. Median household income is $64,791 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 25.2% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area, the top-earning early childhood education-related role is Kindergarten Teacher at a median $70,250 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer early childhood education programs near Merrillville, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Merrillville city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
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:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Merrillville. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Indiana schools on the Indiana early childhood education page.
Merrillville is part of the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (BLS area code 16980). 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 Teacher | $43,050 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $41,554 |
| Kindergarten Teacher | $70,250 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $67,809 |
| Preschool and Childcare Center Director | $59,150 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $57,095 |
| Teaching Assistant | $37,840 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $36,525 |
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.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 36,343 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $64,791 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 25.2% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 103.6 (above U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering early childhood education programs near Merrillville. The closest is Governors State University in University Park, IL (20.6 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is DePaul University (32.1 miles). 5 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying early childhood education-related roles near Merrillville are: Kindergarten Teacher ($70,250), Preschool and Childcare Center Director ($59,150), Preschool Teacher ($43,050). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Indiana statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Hobart, IN is 3.7 miles from Merrillville and has its own set of local early childhood education programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Merrillville’s median household income of $64,791 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Merrillville while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Indiana public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
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.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Merrillville:
Data verified: July 30, 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.
Back to Best Online Early Childhood Education Programs in Indiana (2026)
