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

Utah licenses child care centers through Child Care Licensing (CCL), part of the Office of Licensing (OL) in the Division of Licensing and Background Checks at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

The director qualifications on this page come from the center rules in Utah Administrative Code R381-100.

When this page and the current rule text disagree, the rule governs, and CCL can confirm the requirements in force today.

Utah does not set one degree for directors.

A new director needs at least one of five educational credentials under R381-100-7(4): a CDA or Certified Childcare Professional (or an OL-approved equivalent); a National Administrator Credential with 60 training hours; any bachelor's degree with 60 hours of child development coursework or training; at least 12 college credit hours of child development courses; or an associate degree in early childhood or a related field.

A bachelor's is one route among five, not the only path.

Utah's director rule sets no minimum years of experience; the qualifications are credential- and education-based.

Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics describes a bachelor's degree and experience in early childhood education as typically required for preschool and childcare center directors, and it notes that some employers require a nationally recognized credential.

The license rule is a floor rather than a ceiling: an employer can set hiring requirements of its own, so read each job posting closely.

Two of Utah's five director routes are credential routes: a CDA or Certified Childcare Professional (or an OL-approved equivalent) on one, and a National Administrator Credential together with 60 training hours on the other.

The Council for Professional Recognition awards the CDA.

The rule does not name one mandatory director credential for the state; it lists the routes a new director can qualify by, and the Office of Licensing can approve an equivalent on the CDA/CCP route.

Administration coursework enters the routes only through the National Administrator Credential — the credential together with 60 training hours; the five routes we transcribed include no separate state-issued administration certificate.

A Utah center director completes 20 hours of annual training.

Within 60 working days of assuming director duties, a new director completes the new director training offered by OL.

A director hired after Jan. 1, 2023 also completes OL's 2½-hour preservice training.

The federal CCDF rule requires states to set a minimum annual number of training hours for caregivers, teachers and directors but leaves the number to each state, which is why Utah's figure sits in R381-100.

Our research did not transcribe a separate renewal cycle for the director qualification itself, so confirm renewal questions with CCL.

Utah's rule names this role the director designee.

The director must be on duty at the facility for at least 20 hours a week during operating hours, and a director designee must act in the director's absence.

A designee must be at least 18 years old, hold first aid and CPR certification, and complete designee training.

For a center hiring, that makes the designee a named role with its own training attached, not just a stand-in.

Outside the license rule, Utah tracks early childhood professional development through the Utah Registry for Professional Development, reached via Care About Childcare.

The Career Ladder brochure we reviewed lists 12 levels, from 30 hours of basic training at Level 1 up to a doctorate at Level 12, with Levels 9 through 12 corresponding to associate, bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in related fields.

The Career Ladder is the professional development system's own scale, not part of the director licensing rule: under R381-100-7(4), the qualification is whichever of the five routes a director holds.