How to become a Preschool Teacher: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 29% High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 17% Bachelor's Degree
- 12% Some College Courses
- 12% Master's Degree
- 12% Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
- 10% Post-Secondary Certificate
- 8% Post-Baccalaureate Certificate
BLS typical entry-level education: an associate's degree
BLS lists an associate's degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education” in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). Among preschool teachers surveyed by O*NET, 29% report needing a high school diploma or equivalent, the most common answer. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 3 of 5 (medium preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 1 year, up to and including 2 years” (33%), and for on-the-job training “anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month” (35%).
Data Government data groups this job as Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education (O*NET-SOC 25-2011.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
What BLS lists for workers in the BLS occupation “Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education”
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, workers in the BLS occupation “Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education” in the United States typically need no work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, workers in the BLS occupation “Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education” in the United States typically need no on-the-job training to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming a Preschool Teacher
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for an associate's degree
BLS typical entry-level education, 2025–35 projections. In O*NET's worker survey, 29% report a high school diploma or equivalent. 51% report no college degree needed.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (33% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Instructing, Speaking, Active Listening are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Word.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 3 (Medium Preparation Needed): Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Related roles that need less preparation
Data O*NET related occupations in a lower Job Zone with a skill match of 65% or more.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $38,140; the lowest-paid quarter earn $34,530 or less. See the full Preschool Teacher salary data.
What employers require, by BLS survey
Data BLS figures for preschool teachers, except special education (SOC 25-2011), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey.
- Most common minimum education
- Bachelor's degree
- 45.4% of workers
- No minimum education
- less than 0.5%
- of workers
- No prior experience required
- 69.7%
- of workers
- On-the-job training required
- 69.8%
- of workers
- Median on-the-job training
- 7 days
- License or certification required
- 59.4%
- of workers, as reported by employers (state licensing rules are separate)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Minimum requirements reported by employers for average performance; individual employers differ. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
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