Child care licensing minimally requires that directors have three years of experience in a licensed child care setting with one year experience in a supervisory role and 20 clock hours of annual training. The SC Director Credential has two tiers and requires 9 semester hours of college credit at the lower tier and 18 semester hours at the upper tier. Elementary principal licenses require a master’s degree and offer certification that includes pre-K, but neither pre-K content nor experience is required. The statewide QRIS, at the highest level, requires a director to have an associate degree with at least 27 credit hours in early childhood education. Program administrators in state pre-K programs in schools must have a master’s degree. There are two early childhood leadership degree programs and no leadership academies in South Carolina.
