Early Childhood Multicultural Education (AA), Infant Family Studies Concentration

School of Communication, Humanities & Social Sciences (CHSS)

This degree is designed for students who are working or would like to work in the field of early childhood, home visiting and early intervention. The Infant Family Studies concentration in Early Childhood will transfer to a bachelor’s program at Eastern New Mexico University.

Students pursuing a degree in Infant Family Studies can complete an Infant Family Studies Certificate of Achievement  and a Child Development Certificate  while working towards the associate degree. Students who complete these certificates at CNM are eligible to apply for state certificates offered by the New Mexico Office of Child Development. For more information, contact the Office of Child Development.

See Recommended Sequence of Courses

Students completing all of the ECME coursework within any degree concentration are eligible to apply for the One Year Vocational Certificate issued by the New Mexico Office of Child Development. For more information, contact the Office of Child Development.

Students completing the Family, Infant and Toddler degree concentration may apply for initial certification as a Developmental Specialist I Advanced at
http://nmhealth.org/ddsd/nmfit/

This Associates of Arts program meets the universal coursework requirements as established by the New Mexico Early Childhood Higher Education Task Force acting under the authority of the New Mexico Early Learning Advisory Council.

Students who wish to transfer to a four-year institution and become licensed teachers should earn passing scores on the NES Essential Academic Skills Subtests 1, 2, and 3 and have these scores sent to their transferring institution. The Essential Academic Skills Subtest test students’ knowledge of writing, reading, and math, and the tests can be taken individually or all at once. Students should consider taking each subtest after completion of that subject area of their CNM program (e.g. take the reading and writing subtests after completion of ENG 1102 and/or ENG 2219/220 and the math subtest after the student’s final math course). For additional information and to register, please see the NES Web site at www.nestest.com.

Special Requirements

• Students must pass a criminal background check prior to beginning their field/practicum experience.
• All Courses required for transfer must be taken for a traditional grade of A, B, C, etc.

Approximate Costs of this Educational Option

• Cost of Attendance
• Tuition
• Books
• Program and Course Fees

Financial Aid Considerations

• This is a financial aid eligible program.
  • Direct Subsidized Loans: 150 percent rule
  • Some courses are not eligible for Financial Aid. Please check the list here when considering a course.

Career Opportunities

Students in early childhood are employed almost immediately upon graduation. There is tremendous need for well-qualified early care and education workers in some of the following areas: home visiting, early intervention, infant and toddler child care, educational assistants, and early head start. Work is available with programs such as Head Start, Even Start, private and public child-care facilities and preschools serving the needs of children birth to age five. Private and public schools also employ students as educational assistants. For the graduation policy refer to the Graduating from CNM section, cnm.edu or the Students tab in myCNM.