Your CDA. Your Missouri Classroom. Your Career.
The Child Development Associate® credential is the fastest, most affordable way to step into leadership in Missouri early childhood education — and in Missouri, your CDA can qualify you to direct a center on its own.
If you love working with young children but a college degree feels out of reach right now, the CDA is built for you. It’s nationally recognized, accepted by Missouri’s Office of Childhood, and it can put you in charge of a center without a single college transcript. And through Missouri’s CDA Scholarship Project, it may cost you almost nothing to earn.
Here’s exactly what your CDA can do for you in Missouri.
Become a Center Director — With Your CDA Alone
This is the headline. In Missouri, your CDA on its own qualifies you to be the director of a licensed child care center serving up to 20 children. No degree. No experience minimum. (5 CSR 25-500.102)
Look at what the other paths to that same role require:
- A high school diploma plus 30 college semester hours, or
- 12 months of experience plus 6 college semester hours
Your CDA replaces all of that. It’s the one pathway that asks for neither a college transcript nor a set number of months on the job — you qualify directly.
Good to know: Missouri certifies directors in two steps — the Office of Childhood first certifies your education (your CDA), then you’re approved to direct a specific facility. Your CDA is what gets you through that first, essential door.
Run Your Own Group Child Care Home
Dreaming of leading your own program? Your CDA qualifies you as a Group Child Care Home Provider — and here it applies regardless of the home’s licensed capacity. The CDA is the credential that says you’re ready to run the show in a home-based program of your own.
Build Toward Leading Larger Centers
Your CDA gets you directing now — and it’s the foundation you grow from. Missouri’s larger centers do ask for more:
- 21–60 children: 60 college semester hours (or 24 months’ experience + 12 semester hours)
- 61–99 children: 90 semester hours
- 100+ children: 120 semester hours
So think of your CDA as the credential that puts you in a director’s chair today, with a clear, stackable path toward leading bigger programs as you add coursework over time.
Earn It for Little to Nothing — Missouri’s CDA Scholarship Project
Here’s Missouri’s best-kept secret. Through Child Care Aware® of Missouri, the CDA Scholarship Project — built on the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Missouri model and funded as a statewide quality initiative by Missouri’s Office of Childhood — helps working educators earn the CDA at little to no cost.
For those who qualify, the project can pay your CDA application fee, pair you with a CDA specialist, provide technical-assistance webinars to help you build your portfolio, and reward you with bonuses for earning your credential — for educators in centers, group homes, and family child care alike.
In other words: the credential that can make you a director in Missouri may not have to come out of your own pocket. (Eligibility requirements apply.)
Why Educators Choose the CDA
- ✔ Nationally recognized and accepted by Missouri’s Office of Childhood
- ✔ Qualifies you to direct a licensed center for up to 20 children — with the CDA alone
- ✔ Run your own group child care home — CDA qualifies you regardless of capacity
- ✔ No degree, no experience minimum for the small-center director pathway
- ✔ A foundation for leadership — stack toward directing larger centers over time
- ✔ Often free to earn through Missouri’s CDA Scholarship Project / T.E.A.C.H. Missouri
Your experience with children is already valuable. The CDA is what turns that experience into a credential Missouri recognizes — and a career you can build on.
What Is a CDA Certification?
A Child Development Associate (CDA) certification gives childcare professionals the opportunity to demonstrate that they are competent in the field of Early Childhood Education (ECE). Applicants who earn a CDA certification in Missouri have greater opportunities to advance their careers. This certification is recognized by the Council for Professional Recognition and is awarded to early childhood educators after meeting the competency standards.
What Do You Need to Earn a CDA Certification?
The benefits you get with a CDA certification are massive — it opens more doors for you to advance your career, your skills are recognized, and parents trust you more.
To obtain a CDA certification, applicants need 120 hours of training in professional childcare, plus 480 hours of work experience teaching the specified group they have applied for. After completing these requirements, applicants submit their application online. A verification visit is then scheduled, along with the CDA exam. Applicants are granted the certification after they pass both the verification visit and the CDA exam.
Preparing for the CDA Exam
One of the major deciding factors in granting an applicant a CDA certification is their performance on the CDA exam. It’s vital that applicants take this exam seriously and get all the help they can to prepare for it — and that’s where National CDA Training comes in. We aim to help childcare professionals become CDA certification holders in Missouri.
Our system features scenario-based training that lets applicants practice everything they’ve learned in the books by applying it. NCDAT believes in the power of “learning by doing” instead of just learning the theory. This scenario-based training trains your mind to solve problems easily and create the most appropriate response needed in different classroom situations.
Earning a CDA certification can be a long journey, but it doesn’t have to be hard. At National CDA Training, preparing for the CDA exam can be fun and easy. Take the step to move your career forward with us — you’ll be ready to earn your CDA credential in Missouri.
Ready to Open These Doors?
Take the step to move your career forward. Start your CDA today with National CDA Training!
Roles and requirements reflect Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), Office of Childhood child care licensing standards (5 CSR 25-500.102). Director certification in Missouri is a two-step process, and a CDA must remain valid (non-expired) to qualify for any role. Scholarship availability and terms through the CDA Scholarship Project / T.E.A.C.H. Missouri depend on eligibility. Always confirm current requirements with your employer and DESE’s Office of Childhood, as regulations can change.