What Qualifications Do You Need to Be a Daycare Director in Alaska?

Director qualifications are licensing rules, and in Alaska they live in 7 AAC 57, the Child Care Facilities Licensing rule: a facility regularly caring for five or more children who are not the caregiver's relatives must be licensed unless exempt (7 AAC 57.010).

The rule calls the director the administrator, and 7 AAC 57.300 is the section that sets administrator qualifications: an age minimum for the administrators of child care centers, child care group homes and child care homes, and — at child care centers — the education options the next section details.

Two offices issue licenses — the State of Alaska Child Care Program Office (CCPO) statewide, and the Municipality of Anchorage Child Care Licensing (CCL) inside Anchorage — as Alaska SEED describes the split.

Which office covers a facility follows from where the facility sits.

The qualifications start with age: the administrator of a child care center, child care group home or child care home must be at least 21.

The education options then attach to center administrators: a SEED career ladder Level 7 or higher certificate; 12 college semester hours in early childhood education, child development or related fields, of which management coursework may cover 3; a current CDA; a MACTE-accredited Montessori certificate; a school-age credential; or another approved credential.

Alaska's licensing rule sets no college, credential or CDA requirement for center caregivers, lead or assistant — the education requirements in 7 AAC 57.300(d) apply to center administrators only, and employers such as a Head Start grantee or a pre-elementary program can still impose their own.

The SEED route runs through Alaska's professional-development registry: the Alaska SEED Registry tracks training and education, a member's education sets their level on the Alaska SEED Career Ladder, and membership is free.

The parts of 7 AAC 57 in our research set an age minimum, education options, annual training and reference requirements for administrators.

Our research did not confirm whether Alaska sets a minimum amount of experience for administrators, so ask the Child Care Program Office, or Anchorage CCL inside the city, whether a particular facility or license carries experience expectations.

Our research did not confirm a separate state-issued director credential in Alaska — the education options above are the credential routes the rule lists.

A current CDA credential qualifies a center administrator on its own under 7 AAC 57.300(d)(3); the CDA is awarded by the Council for Professional Recognition, and initial assessment applications are made online through the Council's YourCouncil system.

A MACTE-accredited Montessori certificate, a school-age credential or another approved credential are the rule's other listed credentials.

Our research did not confirm a separate administration-coursework requirement either: the 12-semester-hour option is the coursework route the rule lists, and management coursework may cover 3 of those hours.

Alaska applies one annual training rule to administrators and caregivers alike: the facility must ensure that each administrator and caregiver receives at least 24 hours of annual training relevant to child care and development, including at least one hour on a health and safety topic.

Part-time caregivers working 15 hours a week or less need 12 hours rather than 24.

Renewal runs through continuing education: an administrator without a bachelor's degree in early childhood, child development or a similar field must obtain at least three college semester hours of credit in courses relevant to child care and development every two years, and the 24 annual training hours may substitute for that credit.

The annual number itself is a state choice — the federal CCDF rule requires states to set a minimum annual number of training or professional-development hours for caregivers, teachers and directors without setting the figure — so 24 hours is Alaska's number under 7 AAC 57.350(f).

Alaska's rule works through a designated administrator.

The person a facility designates as its administrator submits four references, at least three of them from individuals unrelated to the applicant, and if the department finds the designated administrator unqualified, a qualified administrator must be designated within 30 days.

Our research did not confirm a separate Alaska rule naming an assistant director, so a center with questions about covering the administrator's absence should ask the Child Care Program Office — or Anchorage CCL — rather than assume the administrator standard transfers to another title.

In a child care group home, the rule generally calls for at least two caregivers, one of whom must be the administrator.

The administrator rule text in 7 AAC 57 was last amended effective 10/9/2024, published in Register 252 (January 2025).

The offices' published rule text is the controlling version, so when a requirement on this page and the current rule disagree, the current rule governs.

The Child Care Program Office, or Anchorage CCL, can say whether further amendments are pending.