Child Life Graduate Program

The purpose of the program is to prepare students to become advanced practitioners in Child Life.

About the Child Life Master's Program

Child Life Specialists help children and families understand and cope with illness, treatment, and hospitalization. They support coping and adjustment through therapeutic play, diagnostic education, and age-appropriate procedural and surgical preparation. Child Life Specialists also help children plan and rehearse coping skills, teach non-pharmacological pain-management techniques, and utilize other expressive avenues such as art, music, and bibliotherapy to support children and their families during times of stress. Child Life Specialists typically work in pediatric hospitals, but other employment settings may include clinics, rehabilitation centers, palliative care, dental offices, and camps for children with chronic health issues.

The program offers students who have completed a Bachelor’s degree in an area outside of Child Life additional study in Child Life, and the opportunity to complete both the required Practicum and Internship experiences they would have not completed during their previous undergraduate work. The program also includes more rigorous study of Child Life theory and application as well as research, program administration, grant writing, and leadership skills. Those advanced areas of study would be very beneficial for Child Life Specialists who would like to pursue management positions within Child Life programs, or rely on grants to fund their programs.

The degree is 100% online. We offer two tracks: one 36 hour BS to MS track for students who have already completed the Child Life practicum and internship, and a traditional 51 hour track for students who have not completed the Child Life practicum and internship. There is a thesis and a non-thesis option.