WARREN — Northern Pennsylvania Regional College recently received professional designation by the Pennsylvania Key for its Early Childhood Education Program.

The Department of Human Services has identified the college as a Pennsylvania Quality Assurance System provider for “PA Keys to Professional Development approved instruction.”

The designation is formal recognition that all Early Childhood Education coursework at the college meets quality standards for content and applies to a student’s professional learning transcript in the statewide early childhood workforce registry, the Pennsylvania Professional Development Registry.

A key component of the Early Childhood Education Associate of Applied Science degree is that students are immediately able to enter the field with little to no additional onboarding requirements for available jobs. Students who satisfactorily complete the program will have finished all new-hire coursework and documentation for early childhood providers in Pennsylvania, have completed the required professional development for their first full year of employment, and have obtained a PA PD Registry Level B Career Pathway rating.

The Early Childhood Education degree at NPRC also prepares students to develop a portfolio for candidacy for the Child Development Associate. The CDA is the most widely recognized and accepted credential in the early childhood education field and is issued by the Council for Professional Recognition in Washington, D.C. The CDA is becoming a preferred credential for employment in many child care facilities.

The spring term for Northern Pennsylvania Regional College begins Jan. 22. Applications are being accepted. The college is authorized by the PA Department of Education to grant Associate degrees and certificates in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is proudly pursuing regional accreditation.