CDA classes are the 120 clock hours of formal early childhood training the Council for Professional Recognition requires before you apply for the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential — with no fewer than 10 hours in each of eight subject areas.
You can take the hours free online through the federal Early Education Pathways platform, inside a college course that carries credit, or through a paid training provider — online, or in person where a local provider offers it.
Here is how the routes differ in coverage, cost and time.
What do CDA classes cover? The 8 subject areas
A CDA class is any course that counts toward the 120 clock hours of formal early childhood education training the Council for Professional Recognition requires CDA candidates to complete, with no fewer than 10 hours in each of eight subject areas.
The Council awards the credential but does not provide or endorse the training itself; the classes come from colleges, universities and training organizations instead.
For the center-based and family child care settings, the Council's eight subject areas are:
- Planning a safe and healthy learning environment
- Advancing children's physical and intellectual development
- Supporting social and emotional development
- Building productive relationships with families
- Managing an effective program operation
- Maintaining a commitment to professionalism
- Observing and recording children's behavior
- Understanding the principles of child development and learning
The per-area minimums explain why provider course lists look the way they do.
The federal iCDA series, for example, is built as eight courses with 10 hours in each of the eight subject areas.
A program that concentrates its hours in one area leaves you short in the others, and the shortfall is yours to make up before you can apply.
Why the hours matter for a job: staff qualifications for center classrooms are set by each state's child care licensing rules, and BLS notes that some states and employers require childcare workers to hold a nationally recognized credential, most often the CDA.
Whether the credential is required where you work or simply strengthens your applications, the same 120 hours are the training component behind it.
Online vs in-person vs college-credit CDA classes
Every route ends at the same requirement — 120 clock hours with at least 10 in each subject area.
What differs is the schedule, the price and whether the hours can double as college credit.
- Free federal online courses. Early Education Pathways (EEP) is a free federal learning platform launched in July 2026 and jointly funded by the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care. Its iCDA Course Preparation Series stacks eight courses with 10 hours in each of the eight subject areas — 80 of the 120 hours — and you can add other EEP courses to reach the full 120.
- University-run online programs. The Circle CDA Training Program, built by the Children's Learning Institute at UTHealth Houston on the CLI Engage platform, provides all 120 training hours plus support with the competency statements and the portfolio, for the center-based Preschool CDA. Its Infant-Toddler version does not yet provide all 120 hours.
- Commercial providers. Training companies sell online CDA training — CCEI's catalog, for example, includes CDA training among its 45 certificate programs. ChildCareEd describes online and live instructor-led training, including full CDA training for the Preschool, Infant-Toddler and Family Child Care settings, along with some free courses — the provider's own description, which we have not independently confirmed, so verify the details with the provider before you pay.
- College-credit routes. Clock hours and college credits convert: in the Council's math, one semester credit equals 15 clock hours, and 120 clock hours equals 8 semester credits. Some provider certificates are also recommended for credit — CCEI's 155-hour Online College Credit Eligible CDA Certificate carries a National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) recommendation of 10 lower-division semester hours in Human/Child Development or Early Childhood Education, though each college decides whether to accept it.
If you want a live or in-person class, ask the provider or a local college whether it runs one on a schedule you can keep; self-paced online courses let you spread the hours around shifts.
If you plan to keep studying after the credential, settle the credit question before you enroll — hours a college accepts for credit can count toward a degree later.
How much do CDA classes cost?
The route decides the price.
The federal option is free: EEP launched in July 2026 as a free platform, its iCDA series covers 80 of the 120 hours at no cost, and the other EEP courses you can add to reach 120 are free too.
Paid providers publish list prices rather than a single CDA fee.
CCEI, for example, listed an individual professional development subscription at $99 a year as of October 2026, with center plans at $499 a year for 20 users and $999 a year for 50 users.
Its catalog of 45 certificate programs includes CDA training, so ask CCEI whether a subscription covers its CDA certificate before you choose a plan.
Promotions change those numbers, so check the current price before you enroll.
Taking the hours as college coursework costs college tuition.
College Board's average published tuition and fees for 2025-26 were $4,150 a year at public two-year colleges for in-district students.
Colleges price per course or per credit, and the Council's conversion counts a CDA's 120 clock hours as 8 semester credits, so ask the college how your hours map before you sign up.
Two more cost lines sit outside tuition.
The Council's initial CDA assessment fee — $525, paid online at application — is separate from any class, and it goes to the Council rather than the provider.
On the other side of the ledger, the Council says income-eligible candidates may have their state pay for all or part of CDA training and possibly the assessment fee; the Council lists funding organizations by state on its CDA Scholarships page.
Ask what the price includes
How long do the 120 hours take?
The Council says the 120 hours can be completed any time before you apply.
How long they take is a question of the program's design and your schedule, and the published examples vary widely.
The free iCDA series is eight courses of 10 hours each — 80 hours to finish, with other EEP courses added on top to reach 120.
CCEI's 155-hour Online College Credit Eligible CDA Certificate is designed to take up to one year.
Two conversions help you read any program's fine print.
In the Council's math, one CEU equals 10 clock hours, one semester credit equals 15, and one quarter credit equals 10 — so 120 clock hours is the same as 12 CEUs or 8 semester credits.
A program that quotes credits instead of hours can be checked against that conversion before you commit.
Self-paced courses move as fast as you do; scheduled live classes and college terms set the pace for you.
The practical planning move is to work backwards from the date you want to submit an application, since the hours need to be finished before then.
How to choose a CDA training provider
Start with the rule that surprises people: the Council does not provide CDA training and does not endorse any training program.
Its requirements are about the training's source and shape — it must come from an organization with early childhood teacher-preparation expertise, and training from individual consultants or conferences is not accepted.
Then match the program to the credential you will actually apply for.
As of October 2026 the Council offers the CDA in five settings: center-based Infant-Toddler (birth to 36 months), center-based Preschool (ages 3 to 5), center-based Birth to Five, Family Child Care (birth to 5 in a home), and Home Visitor.
Training built for one setting does not always fit another — Circle CDA, for instance, provides all 120 hours for the Preschool credential but not yet in its Infant-Toddler version.
Be skeptical of nationwide-acceptance marketing, too.
Some providers advertise on their own sites that their courses are accepted everywhere; acceptance is decided state by state, by each state's child care licensing agency or workforce registry.
Treat the claim as marketing and verify with the body that actually decides.
- Covers all 120 hours — or fills the gap you have — with at least 10 hours in each of the eight subject areas
- Comes from an organization with early childhood teacher-preparation expertise, not an individual consultant or a conference
- Matches your setting: Infant-Toddler, Preschool, Birth to Five, Family Child Care or Home Visitor
- Is accepted where you work — confirm with your state child care licensing agency or workforce registry if the hours also count toward state training rules
- States a total price and a schedule you can actually finish
Confirm the hours count before you pay
What happens after the training?
The classes end where the credential's own process begins.
The Council describes earning the CDA as a three-step process — Prepare, Apply, Demonstrate — and takes initial applications online through its YourCouncil system.
Your 120 hours are the preparation step; the application and assessment that follow are run by the Council, whose site and Competency Standards book are the authorities for the current process.
If you are still mapping the route into the classroom — what the job involves day to day, which age group fits you, and what the role pays — the childcare teacher career guide covers the role end to end.
This page is career information, not licensing or legal advice. The Council for Professional Recognition sets the CDA's training requirements; your state child care licensing agency sets the training rules for working in a center. Confirm current requirements with both before you enroll or apply.