Child care licensing in Maine requires administrators to obtain 30 clock hours of continuing education annually. The competency-based director credential requires experience in early childhood education but not in administration. There are three options to attain the credential that allow for various combinations of clock-hour training and college coursework, ranging from 150 clock-hours to 9 semester hours of college credit. At the highest level, the statewide QRIS requires administrators to have a minimum of a master’s degree. Elementary school principal licensure requires a graduate degree. For state pre-K programs, elementary schools are required to have a licensed principal; community-based programs do not have specific qualifications for directors.
