Preschool and Childcare Center Director Career Assessment

2What is a Preschool and Childcare Center Director?

A director is responsible for everything that happens under that roof. North Dakota Administrative Code chapter 75-03-10 spells out the job in detail: the operator must designate a qualified director, and the director or a designated acting director must be present at the center at least sixty percent of the hours the center is open. You make sure the center is staffed to meet the child-to-staff ratios at all times and never goes over licensed capacity. You write the policies — hiring, discipline, illness and accidents, enrollment, transportation, how a parent files a complaint. You keep records of enrollment, attendance, health, and staff qualifications. You make sure background checks are done and approved before anyone has unsupervised access to a child. You make sure parents get written fee agreements, unlimited access to see their own children, and notice when anything changes. And you report to the state within twenty-four hours if a child is seriously hurt, a medication is given wrong, there is a fire, or the center has to close. Some of your families pay their bill with state help rather than out of pocket, so part of your month is billing the state correctly and on time for those children — get that wrong and the money is late. Many directors are also the owner, in which case the business is yours too: rent, payroll, insurance, marketing, and the waiting list.

The Reality: The pay is the honest problem. The middle director in North Dakota earns about $24.71 an hour, about $51,390 a year, for a job where you are legally responsible for other people’s children, a staff, a building, and a budget. The bottom tenth is about $17.11 an hour. You will be the person who cannot find a qualified staff member, who has to tell a family their spot is gone, and who stays late because someone has to close. Child care is a low-margin business everywhere, and North Dakota is no exception. Go in loving the work, because the paycheck alone will not carry you.

Your Responsibilities:

• Hire, train, schedule, and keep staff — the hardest part of the job
• Keep the center inside the state’s ratio and group size limits every hour it is open
• Handle enrollment, the waiting list, tuition, and the family agreements
• Write and follow the center’s policies, and keep the required records
• Make sure background checks and required training are done and documented
• Pass fire and health inspections and keep the license current
• Talk with parents — the happy conversations and the hard ones
• Step into a classroom and cover ratio when someone calls in sick

You make it possible for dozens of parents to go to work, which is not a small thing.

3A Day in the Life

6:30 AM — Unlock. Turn on lights and coffee, check the sign-in tablets, and see who called in sick overnight.

7:00 AM — One toddler teacher is out. You move a floater, then cover the room yourself until 9.

9:15 AM — Back in the office. Two enrollment calls, one waiting list family, one tour scheduled for Thursday.

10:30 AM — Walk every room. You are looking at ratios, at the mood of the staff, and at one child who has had a rough week.

11:30 AM — Paperwork: training hours, background check renewals, and a policy update parents have to be told about.

1:00 PM — Payroll and the tuition report. Three families are behind. You have to call them, and you have to be both kind and firm.

3:00 PM — Interview a candidate. You want to hire her today, and you cannot pay what she is worth. You make the offer anyway.

5:30 PM — Close with the last teacher. Lock up, then answer the email you did not get to.

Half the day is management. The other half is whatever went wrong, plus covering ratio.

4Training in North Dakota

North Dakota names seven ways to qualify as a director, and several do not need a four-year degree. ND Administrative Code 75-03-10-10 sets the floor, and it is the clearest rule in this whole series. A director must be an adult in good health who uses mature judgment, must have knowledge or experience in management and interpersonal relationships, and must hold at least one of seven listed qualifications. Two of those seven need no college degree at all. This is a real career you can climb into from a classroom job, and North Dakota wrote the ladder down.

Training Pathways:

• Start in a classroom and climb (this is the common road): Get hired as center staff — the rules set that floor at age fourteen, a department-approved basic child care course within ninety days, infant and pediatric CPR and pediatric first aid within ninety days, and a fingerprint background check. Then earn the Child Development Associate credential, called the CDA, while you work. A current CDA plus one year of experience in a center qualifies you as a director under 75-03-10-10(3)(f). No college degree required anywhere in that sentence.
• Two-year degree (2 years): An associate degree in early childhood education or child development plus at least six months of center experience qualifies you as a director. An associate degree in something else works too if you add one year of experience plus either eight semester hours of approved early childhood coursework, 120 hours of approved early childhood training, or a department-approved director’s credential. North Dakota two-year colleges cost far less than a university, and several of these credits transfer into a bachelor’s later.
• Four-year degree (4 years): A bachelor’s in early childhood education or child development qualifies you on its own, with no experience required by the rule. A bachelor’s in anything else qualifies with six months of center experience plus one of: eight semester hours of approved early childhood coursework, 120 hours of approved early childhood training, or a department-approved director’s credential. An elementary education teaching certificate plus six months of experience also qualifies.

Where to Train in North Dakota:

• Child Development Associate (CDA) credential — the credential that opens the director door without college. The CDA Council says it takes 120 hours of formal early childhood training with at least 10 hours in each of the 8 subject areas, 480 hours of work experience with young children, a 65-question computer exam at a Pearson VUE testing center, a professional portfolio, and a verification visit where a specialist watches you work with children. It costs $525 to apply and $250 to renew, and is good for three years. Add one year of center experience and it qualifies you as a North Dakota director — cdacouncil.org
• Aim4Excellence Center Director Credential — the national director credential ND Health and Human Services recognizes in its early childhood career pathway, and the kind of thing 75-03-10-10 means by "a director’s credential approved by the department." Ask ND HHS whether the exact credential you are considering is approved before you pay for it — hhs.nd.gov/cfs/early-childhood-services/career-development
• Lake Region State College (Devils Lake) — Early Childhood Education at the associate level — lrsc.edu/academics/programs
• Bismarck State College (Bismarck) — Education Foundations: Early Childhood and Elementary, a program certificate that BSC says comes with a Title I Paraprofessional Certificate and a North Dakota Substitute Teacher License, and whose credits stack into BSC’s Bachelor of Applied Science in Foundations of Teaching — bismarckstate.edu/academics/programs/educationfoundationsearlychildhoodelementary
• Cankdeska Cikana Community College (Fort Totten) — Early Childhood Education, Associate of Arts, 66 credits. The college says graduates work in Early Head Start, Head Start, FACE programs, day care centers, and public schools, and that students can finish a Mayville State bachelor’s in early childhood education right on campus — littlehoop.edu/academics/early-childhood-education
• Sitting Bull College (Fort Yates) — Early Childhood Education, Associate of Science, which the college says builds skills for working with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and transfers toward a bachelor’s — sittingbull.edu/academics/programs/early-childhood-education-associate-of-science
• Mayville State University (Mayville) — Early Childhood, B.A., the non-licensure version built for people already working in early childhood, plus an Early Childhood A.A. and certificates in Infant and Toddler Care, Early Childhood Curriculum Birth to Five, and Understanding of Special Education in Early Childhood Birth to Five. The B.A. does not lead to a teaching license, which does not matter for this job — mayvillestate.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/early-childhood
• Minot State University (Minot) — Early Childhood, B.S., listed separately from the teacher-licensure B.S.Ed., so check which one you are applying to — minotstateu.edu/enroll/programs/early-childhood.shtml
• University of Mary (Bismarck) and other ND schools also offer business and management associate degrees. If you intend to own a center rather than manage someone else’s, a few accounting and small business courses will do more for you than another early childhood class. Say that out loud to an advisor so they build the right schedule.
• ND Early Childhood Hub and Workforce Registry — free, run by ND Health and Human Services. It reviews your official transcripts, tracks your approved training hours, records credentials, and places you on the state career pathway across eight competency areas. Join it early, because it is how you prove later what you have already done — hhs.nd.gov/cfs/early-childhood-services/career-development
• ND Health and Human Services child care licensing toolkit — for anyone getting licensed or licensed within the last 90 days. ND HHS describes three phases: Get Ready (orientation and a health and safety checklist), Get Set (a start-up coordinator and an award for learning materials), and Start Your Childcare (one-on-one coordination and a business toolkit). You join through the ND Early Childhood Hub — hhs.nd.gov/cfs/early-childhood-services/providers/child-care-licensing-toolkit

Before You Start: To work in a center at all: a fingerprint background check approved before you have unsupervised access to children, a department-approved basic child care course within ninety days of being hired, and current infant and pediatric CPR and pediatric first aid within ninety days. To direct: one of the seven qualification routes, plus real management sense. If you are going to own the center, add basic business skills — payroll, insurance, a budget you can read, and the nerve to set a tuition rate and hold it.

Tip: Start with financial aid and scholarships. Fill out the FAFSA, ask the school’s financial aid office what you qualify for, and ask an employer whether they help pay for school. That is where the money starts. After that, a career counselor or Job Service North Dakota may be able to help with what is left over, like tuition, books, a laptop, or exam fees. What can be paid for depends on the program and on your own situation, so ask before you enroll rather than after. Worth asking about specifically: two-year degrees that train you for a job, like civil engineering technology, land surveying, mechatronics, electronics, or instrumentation. North Dakota two-year colleges also cost far less than a university. Ask about paid summer internships too — engineering firms, plants, and survey crews hire students while they are still in school.

5Certification & Licensing

The state licenses the center. The state also says who is allowed to direct it. There is no personal director license in North Dakota the way there is a teaching license. Instead, the center holds the license, and ND Administrative Code 75-03-10 says who is qualified to run it. ND Health and Human Services handles licensing, and applications, documents, staff, and fees now go through an online Child Care Licensing system.

North Dakota Rules You Will Live Inside:

• Director qualifications (75-03-10-10) — be an adult of good physical, cognitive, social, and emotional health who uses mature judgment; have knowledge or experience in management and interpersonal relationships; and hold one of: a bachelor’s in early childhood education or child development; a bachelor’s in anything plus 6 months of experience plus 8 semester hours of approved early childhood coursework or 120 hours of approved training or a department-approved director’s credential; an associate’s in early childhood or child development plus 6 months of experience; an associate’s in anything plus 1 year of experience plus one of those same three add-ons; an elementary education teaching certificate plus 6 months of experience; a current CDA or approved diploma program plus 1 year of experience; or Montessori certification plus 1 year of experience plus one of the three add-ons
• Director yearly training (75-03-10-10(4)) — at least thirteen hours of department-approved child care training a year, including one hour on safe sleep before caring for infants and one hour on mandated reporting. A department-approved basic child care course must be completed within ninety days of employment. The same course only counts again after three years, except safe sleep and mandated reporting, which are yearly
• Supervisor qualifications (75-03-10-11.1) — the step below director: an associate degree in early childhood development, or a current CDA, or Montessori training, or a high school diploma or equivalency plus at least one year of experience in child care or a similar setting, plus the same thirteen hours of yearly training
• Who has to be in the building (75-03-10-09(1)) — the director or a designated acting director must be present at least 60% of the hours the center is open. An acting director must meet supervisor qualifications, and must meet director qualifications if it runs more than thirty days. When neither is there, someone who meets supervisor qualifications must be on duty
• Ratios and group sizes (75-03-10-08) — under 18 months, 1 staff to 4 children, group of 10; 18 to 36 months, 1 to 5, group of 15; 3 to 4 years, 1 to 7, group of 20; 4 to 5 years, 1 to 10, group of 25; 5 to 6 years, 1 to 12, group of 30; 6 to 12 years, 1 to 20, group of 40. You must be staffed to meet these at all times and never exceed licensed capacity — this single rule drives your whole schedule and most of your costs
• If you are the owner as well as the director (75-03-10-09(18)) — the operator must personally meet the director qualifications in 75-03-10-10. You cannot own your way around the rule
• Operator duties you inherit (75-03-10-09) — liability insurance, written policies covering hiring, discipline, enrollment, illness, complaints, and transportation, signed written fee agreements with every family, unlimited parent access to observe their own child, records of enrollment and attendance and health, enough qualified substitutes, and reporting to the department within twenty-four hours after a death, a hospitalization, an injury needing medical treatment, a medication error, an emergency closure, or a fire
• Getting licensed in the first place (hhs.nd.gov) — ND HHS lays out nine steps: the new provider orientation course, which new owners, operators, directors, and supervisors must complete; understanding licensing; choosing your provider type; reviewing the regulations; background clearance before anyone has unsupervised access to children; required training; preparing the business; using the support resources and licensing toolkit; and applying online through the Child Care Licensing system, where you also upload documents, add staff, and pay fees
• When a license is required (hhs.nd.gov) — programs caring for more than 5 children total, or more than 3 children under 24 months, must be licensed. Five or fewer, with no more than 3 under 24 months, can be a self-declared provider instead. ND HHS lists several license types by location and capacity; ask a licensing specialist which one fits your plan before you sign a lease
• Voluntary quality steps (Bright & Early North Dakota) — a four-step, four-star quality rating run by ND Health and Human Services and supported at UND, covering extra health and safety measures, environments that build learning through play, activities for language and creativity and science, and warm adult-child relationships. It is voluntary, it goes above the basic licensing rules, and it gives families a rating they can see

The Exams: There is no state director exam. The exam in this field belongs to the CDA: a 65-question computer test at a Pearson VUE center, taken with a portfolio and a verification visit where a specialist watches you work with children.

Cost: The CDA is $525 to apply and $250 to renew every three years. The basic child care course, CPR, pediatric first aid, and the background check are the entry costs on the staff side. If you open your own center, the real money is rent, insurance, payroll, equipment, and the fire and health work needed to pass inspection, and ND HHS collects licensing fees through the online system. Ask a licensing specialist for the current fee before you budget.

Keeping It Current: The CDA renews every three years for $250. Your yearly thirteen hours of approved training never stop, and safe sleep and mandated reporter training repeat every year no matter what else you take. The center license renews on the state’s schedule with annual fire inspections by local or state fire authorities and health inspections, and background checks are redone at least every five years.

6Salary & Job Outlook

North Dakota Education and Childcare Administrators, Preschool and Daycare Pay (May 2025):

• Starting out (bottom 10–25%): $17.11–$19.01/hour ($35,580–$39,530/year)
• Middle (median — half earn more, half earn less): $24.71/hour ($51,390/year)
• Experienced (top 25–10%): $29.97–$44.06/hour ($62,340–$91,650/year)

What that means: These are real published North Dakota hourly wages, not figures worked out from a yearly salary, because this is a year-round job rather than a school-year contract. Now the honest reading of them. The middle director in North Dakota earns about $24.71 an hour, about $51,390 a year. That is real money and it is far above what the staff you supervise make — the middle North Dakota preschool teacher earns about $39,720 — but it is low for the responsibility, and it is below the national middle of $28.51 and $59,300. The bottom tenth, about $17.11 an hour or $35,580 a year, is where a small-town or small-center director actually starts, and that is the number to plan around if this is your first director job. The top tenth, about $44.06 an hour or $91,650, is real too, and it usually belongs to someone running a large center, a multi-site program, or their own business. So the shape of this career is: a low floor, a modest middle, and a top that you reach by getting bigger or by owning it. Pay in child care is squeezed by simple math — the ratio rules set your staffing costs and families can only pay so much tuition — so nobody in this field gets rich by accident.

Jobs in North Dakota: About 320 people do this work in ND today. By 2034, that should be about 340 (about 7% growth). Expect about 20 job openings every year in ND from growth and people retiring or changing jobs. Across the U.S., the change is about 3% decline.

Outlook: Modest growth in North Dakota, and better than the country. O*NET shows North Dakota going from about 320 preschool and child care administrators in 2024 to about 340 in 2034, roughly 7% growth, with about 20 openings a year. Nationally the job is shrinking, down about 3%, from about 90,200 workers to about 87,900. So North Dakota is the better place to be doing this, but be honest about the size: twenty openings a year is not a lot of jobs, and many of them will be at small centers that cannot pay much. Two things work in your favor. Twenty openings in a job you can reach with an associate degree or a CDA is worth more than twenty openings in a job that needs four years and a license. And North Dakota has a real child care shortage, especially outside Fargo and Bismarck, which is hard on families and is exactly why a qualified director can find work. If you want a bigger field in the same building, preschool teaching itself shows about 90 openings a year in North Dakota, though it pays about $39,720 in the middle instead of $51,390.

Who Hires in ND: Licensed child care centers, preschools, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, tribal Head Start and FACE programs, employer-run and hospital-run centers, church-run centers, college laboratory schools, and centers people own themselves — a large share of North Dakota directors are the owner too.

Work Setting: A small office next to a loud building. You will hear the toddler room through the wall all day. Hours are long and early or long and late, because centers open before the first parent’s shift and close after the last one. You are indoors, on your feet a lot, and you will end up in a classroom on short-staffed days. Summer does not slow down — unlike a school, a center runs year-round, which is one reason this job is paid hourly rather than on a contract.

Physical Demands: Moderate, and higher than people expect for a manager. On any day a teacher calls in, you are on the floor: lifting toddlers, doing diapers, sitting in tiny chairs, and going outside in North Dakota winter because children still go out. The rest of the strain is the kind that does not show — you are the one who gets called at 6 a.m. when someone cannot come in, and you are the one who decides what happens next.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, North Dakota, May 2025 (SOC 11-9031); North Dakota and U.S. long-term employment projections 2024–2034, via O*NET OnLine. Numbers are rounded.

7Where This Leads

Path 1: Lead Teacher — Run a classroom and build toward the CDA.

Path 2: Center Supervisor — The step just below director; an associate degree, a CDA, or a diploma plus a year does it.

Path 3: Center Director — Run the whole program, staff, and license.

Path 4: Center Owner — Own the business as well as run it, and take on the money side.

Path 5: Head Start Program Manager — Move into a larger federally funded program with more structure.

Path 6: Multi-Site or Regional Director — Oversee several centers; this is where the top tenth of the pay lives.

8The Real Talk

What's Great:

• You can reach this job without a four-year degree — an associate degree or a CDA plus experience does it
• North Dakota is growing about 7% while the country shrinks about 3%
• Middle pay of about $51,390 is well above the teachers you supervise
• You can own the business and build something of your own
• Year-round work, not a school calendar
• Families in North Dakota badly need centers, so the work plainly matters

What's Hard:

• Low pay for enormous responsibility; the bottom tenth is about $35,580
• Only about 20 openings a year in the whole state
• Staffing is the whole job, and good staff are hard to find and hard to keep at child care wages
• You are legally responsible when something goes wrong, and you report it to the state within 24 hours
• Long days, and you cover ratio yourself whenever someone calls in
• The math of the business is tight, and telling a family their bill is late is part of your week

Be Honest: Can you be responsible for other people’s children, in writing, with the state checking? Can you hire, train, and keep staff for wages you know are too low, and not get bitter about it? Can you be the first one in and the last one out, and still be on the floor in a toddler room when someone calls in sick? And can you look at a starting number near $35,580 and decide honestly whether that works for your household right now?

9Part 1: What Attracts You?

10Part 2: Are You Ready?

11Part 3: Your Next Move

Your Preschool and Childcare Center Director Assessment Results