Early childhood teachers increasingly need and want bachelor’s degrees, but it can be tough to find the time and money to go to college. That’s why New America, a Washington, D.C., think tank, is looking at the potential for on-line college programs.

“Online degree programs have emerged as one way to create a more flexible and accessible pathway,” writes Shayna Cook in the New America report, “When Degree Programs for Pre-K Teachers Go Online: Challenges and Opportunities.”

A video of a panel discussion on this topic is posted here.

The report focuses primarily on pre-K lead teachers, “the segment of the early childhood workforce that is closest to achieving the bachelor’s degree credential and commensurate compensation.”

The report findings suggest that while there are great opportunities in online education, there are also great challenges.

Online programs eliminate numerous barriers. There is no commute. Classes can be taken asynchronously, fitting into a busy teacher’s schedule. And teachers who have to can take remedial courses can do so when they have time and in private.

Nonetheless, there is skepticism about online education, as New America notes:

“For those new to online learning, it sounds incongruous to prepare a person for teaching young children by having her sit in front of a computer and take an online course. But with the arrival of new methods for communicating online, like the use of interactive chats and video (including video playback of teachers working with children in pre-K classrooms), designers of these courses say they can help build a strong knowledge base and provide opportunities for introspection about students’ own teaching methods.”

In fact, a University of Virginia study found that “online learning is a feasible option for early childhood teachers when the programs are properly designed and allow for professors to implement high-quality coursework.”

Barriers do, however, remain. Given their low wages, pre-K teachers often can’t pay for tuition and the technology that online classes require. Student loans and grants help, but they don’t always cover all costs. And because they won’t go on to earn a lot of money, teachers are more vulnerable to defaulting on their student loans.

Pre-K teachers also need more information about online programs so they’ll “know if they are enrolling in high-quality online programs that meet the requirements for becoming lead early childhood teachers or wasting money on low-quality programs that will not give them the skills to improve their practice.”

As New America found by looking at eight online programs, there is a wide variety of offerings and costs. Some programs are public; others are for-profit. Seven of the programs are offered completely online. And for the 2015-16 school year, tuition ranged from $6,800 per year to more than $19,000.

Given these and other risks, New America says, “many challenges remain before online degree programs are seen as viable pathways” for teachers.

Specifically, the report ends with “seven takeaways,” including:

• “Without scholarship and grant programs, along with improved compensation, teachers will continue to have difficulty acquiring a bachelor’s degree.”

• More comprehensive “data and research are needed to better understand the online degree landscape” and to “distinguish between quality and sub-par programs.”

• “Early childhood educators need access to broadband service and up-to-date computers, not just smartphones, to be successful in online programs,” and

• “More research is needed about the nature of online degree programs in the early childhood context.”

As New America concludes, there is no one approach that will work for everyone. Still:

“Online bachelor’s degree programs have the potential to help build the skills and core competencies of lead early childhood educators if policymakers and program developers help teachers to overcome the many barriers to accessing an affordable, high-quality degree.”

It will take a team to help teachers access the best of online higher education.

Click on Twitters #ECEOnlineDegrees to learn more.