The Best Online Child Psychology Bachelor’s Degrees for 2025

A child psychology bachelor’s degree program covers child development, childhood disorders, and child-specific communication and intervention strategies. This program can help you better understand children and their needs, while also setting the foundation for advanced degrees and licensure in the field.

Explore the best child psychology bachelor’s programs in detail below, including what they offer, where they lead, and how to choose among them.

The right online child psychology bachelor’s program for you depends on your unique situation, goals, and needs. However, there are some standards that schools and programs should meet.

Schools can be accredited at the institutional and program levels, but you only need to worry about institutional accreditation as a psychology undergraduate. While organizations like the American Psychological Association and the Master’s in Psychology and Counseling Accreditation Council accredit graduate programs, no organizations accredit bachelor’s-level psychology programs.

Institutional accreditation is a mandatory quality assurance marker in your school search. The accreditation process recognizes schools that meet educational standards in areas like faculty, program design, and student outcomes. If you attend an accredited school, you are eligible for federal financial aid and can pursue licensure after graduation.

When choosing a program, make sure it aligns with your career goals. For example, if you plan to become a child psychologist, you’ll need an advanced degree, so find a bachelor’s program that prepares you for a master’s in child psychology or a doctorate at a minimum.

You can also review the curriculum and see if it offers you courses and concentrations in the topics and fields that interest you most. You might check what areas the faculty specializes in or if they have any experience in your desired field as well.

In your search, you may encounter fully online and hybrid programs, and it’s important to understand the differences between them to make the best choice.

Online programs typically offer most courses online, with the exception of practicums, internships, or residency requirements. By limiting travel and scheduled class times, online programs offer a great deal of flexibility and allow you to pursue schools in other locations. However, online programs can require more organization and independence from you than on-campus or hybrid programs.

Hybrid programs feature at least 50% online classes combined with on-campus classes. This blend provides you with some of the flexibility of online learning, plus the interactivity, hands-on elements, and the classroom environment of campus-based classes. Because of the campus requirements, however, you may need to live closer to the campus.

Tuition costs can vary considerably among schools and programs. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average undergraduate tuition and fees cost was $9,800 in public schools and $40,700 in private nonprofit schools for the 2022-23 academic year.

Before making a decision based on tuition, consider how financial aid impacts your actual cost. Along with federal aid and scholarships, many schools offer financial aid packages, including tuition discounts and merit and needs-based awards.

While internships and practicums become mandatory at the graduate level, they can still prove useful for you in a child psychology bachelor’s degree. Along with giving you a real-world setting to apply your learning and develop practical skills, an internship can help you identify the people you want to work with and the sub-discipline you want to specialize in.

Consider a program with a field experience component or at least one that offers internship opportunities as electives. Finding a school with a relationship or partnership with an organization in your field of interest can be beneficial.

While every school has its own undergraduate application process and admission requirements, child psychology bachelor’s programs typically have similar components. In most cases, you’ll need to submit some or all of the following application materials: