Child Development & Family Studies

Are you intrigued by human nature and the factors that shape it? Do you desire to understand child development, and seek to improve the lives of children and families? A bachelor’s degree in child development and Family Studies will equip you to pursue a wide array of rewarding careers focusing on the well-being of children and their families.

What is a bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Family Studies at UNT Dallas?

A child development and family studies degree from the University of North Texas at Dallas provides students an affordable path to gain the knowledge and skills for a successful career working with children and families. The child development component of our degree program is distinctive in that it emphasizes the development of young children from infancy to 8 years old. Our program also highlights human development across the lifespan, which includes the cognitive, emotional, physical and social domains from the prenatal period through older adulthood. The family studies component offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the well-being of the family by addressing challenges over the lifespan, and exploring the dynamics between people within their families as well as those between families, their communities and the greater world.

What marketable skills will I learn?

  • Advocacy and leadership
  • Collaborating, teaching and mentoring
  • Using professional resources
  • Mastery of relevant theory and research
  • Communication skills
  • Ethical principles
  • Cultural competence

Why earn a bachelor’s degree in Child Development and Family Studies from UNT Dallas?

The path of seeking a degree in Child Development and Family Studies at UNT Dallas is an exciting and rewarding experience. Students are connected to their program coordinator and their advisor from beginning to end to foster academic success. Students will receive various methods of teaching instructions from a plethora of diverse faculty and staff, receive services to safeguard against special circumstances and extracurricular activities to keep students entertained. The Child Development and Family Studies program received its certification from the National Council and Family on Family Relations (NCFR), and students have the opportunity to receive the provisional Certified Family Life Educator credential upon completing all required courses within the degree program with a passing grade and submitting their transcript to NCFR. See NCFR for more details. UNT Dallas is committed to exposing students to knowledge in the classroom, application and practice in the field through experiential learning and internships, as well as other real-world experiences that employers desire while helping students build professional networks.

What career opportunities are available with a Child Development and Family Studies degree?

Child Development and Family Studies graduates from UNT Dallas are equipped to enter a range of occupations in the human services sector. These occupations include, but are not limited to:v

• Practice — Teaching, education, research/scholarship, program or curricula development

• Administration — Leadership or management, organizing, coordinating, in the non- or for-profit organizations

Promotion — Public policy, lobbying, advocating for system change and awareness.