Child Life

Do you have a passion for children and the health-care industry? Would you be fulfilled working with critically ill children and their families?

The child life program at East Carolina University is a sought after and competitive major that prepares you for a career that is both fulfilling and sometimes challenging. As a child life student, you will take many classes that will train and prepare you to work in a medical environment as you help children and their families cope with critical illnesses they are facing. Careers as a child life specialist are competitive and could include working in a hospital, medical clinic, physician's office, or dentist office. At East Carolina, students within the child life major study material designed to give them a first-hand look at their future as a child life specialist. Students complete practicums within a hospital setting and within the Nancy W. Darden Child Development Center. Students also complete a semester long practicum within a medical setting prior to their final semester long internship under a Certified Child Life Specialist. Through these hands-on experiences, students will be able to get a better picture of what the career entails.

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Program Co-Coordinators:

Acceptance into this major is on a competitive, space-available basis with admission each year prior to fall semester. To be admitted into the child life program, an application packet must be submitted to the child life program coordinator after the student has completed a minimum of 45 semester hours (45 s.h.), including the following courses with a minimum grade of B (3.0) or better: HDFS 2000, HDFS 2001, HDFS 2021, HDFS 3002, HDFS 3150; NUTR 1000; and an overall GPA of at least B (3.0). To remain in the program, students must maintain a 3.0 GPA with a minimum grade of B (3.0) in the following courses prior to internship (HDFS 4415): HDFS 3022, HDFS 3321, HDFS 3413, HDFS 3600, HDFS 4000, HDFS 4201, HDFS 4210, HDFS 4303, HDFS 4993. Students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA to enroll in the child life internship (HDFS 4415) and earn a minimum grade of B (3.0) in the internship to graduate as a child life major. Internships are competitive, require formal application to the desired hospital or health care setting and typically need to be arranged one semester before enrollment. Students are responsible for interviewing and securing their own internship. (Note: Completion of a BS degree with a major in child life does not include certification as a certified child life specialist (CCLS). The Child Life Certification Commission, a subsidiary of the Association of Child Life Professionals oversees the administration of the certification examination. The Department of Human Development and Family Science will verify completion of degree requirements, but meeting other requirements for certification is the responsibility of each candidate. In addition, child life internships are only available to ECU students enrolled in our degree completion program.

Application Process

An application packet with the following items must be submitted to the child life program coordinator no later than the last Friday of March each academic year.

The faculty review committee will evaluate student applications on the basis of academic achievement and the standards published by the Association of Child Life Professionals, the governing board for the profession.

The degree requires a minimum of 120 s.h. as follows:

(For information about courses that carry general education credit view the General Education Program section.)

• ANTH 1050 - Global Understanding
• BIOL 2130 - Survey of Human Physiology and Anatomy


• COMM 2020 - Fundamentals of Speech Communication OR
• COMM 2410 - Public Speaking


• PHIL 1175 - Introduction to Ethics OR
• PHIL 2275 - Professional Ethics


• PSYC 1000 - Introductory Psychology
• SOCI 2110 - Introduction to Sociology

• HDFS 1103 - Individual, Family, and Romantic Relationships
• HDFS 2000 - Child Development I: Prenatal Through Early Childhood
• HDFS 2001 - Child Development II: Middle Childhood Through Young Adulthood
• HDFS 2021 - Introduction to Child Life
• HDFS 3002 - Family Systems and Parenting Across the Life Cycle
• HDFS 3022 - Death, Dying, and Bereavement
• HDFS 3150 - Introduction to Early Childhood Intervention
• HDFS 3321 - Infant and Toddler Curriculum
• HDFS 3413 - The Hospitalized Child
• HDFS 3600 - Play in the Lives of Children
• HDFS 4000 - Introduction to Child and Family Research
• HDFS 4201 - Assessment for Intervention
• HDFS 4210 - Child Life Practicum
• HDFS 4303 - Families and Cultural Diversity
• HDFS 4415 - Child Life Internship
• HDFS 4993 - Early Childhood Practicum

• HIMA 3000 - Medical Terminology for Health Professionals
• MUSC 4277 - Music for Group Activities
• MUSC 4287 - Music for Group Activities Practicum
• NUTR 1000 - Contemporary Nutrition
• PSYC 3310 - Introduction to Neuroscience
• SOCW 4505 - Community Services for Children

(Choose from the following.)

• ANTH 1050 - Global Understanding


• ANTH 3252 - Medical Anthropology OR
• SOCI 3327 - Medical Sociology


• ART 3850 - Art in the Elementary School
• ASLS 2020 - Sign Language Studies I
• CSDI 2100 - Introduction to Communication Disorders
• HLTH 2125 - Responding to Emergencies with Basic Life Support
• HLTH 2126 - Responding to Emergencies with Basic Life Support Laboratory
• IRHE 2000 - Introduction to Rural Health Care Teams
• LIBS 3200 - The Art of Storytelling
• MUSC 3048 - Music for Exceptional Children
• MUSC 3058 - Music for the Preschool Child
• RCTX 2200 - Principles and Practices in Stress Management

For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.

Graduates with this degree are successful in many fields and careers, including the following:

• Child Development
• Education and Training

Career Opportunities

ECU has developed resources to help you learn more about career opportunities and job market outlook. In addition, the websites below provide specific information on careers in the various majors from which students may choose:

NC Tower

This website provides graphs and tables of in-depth information on employment rates, wages and ongoing higher education enrollment of graduates from the North Carolina Community College System and from the University of North Carolina system schools. NC Tower includes data on former UNC students who are working in roughly 90% of all jobs in North Carolina. This database excludes information for graduates who are:

• Self-employed;
• Work for the federal government, including the military: or
• Work outside of North Carolina.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook

This website also provides in-depth information regarding pay, projected new jobs, required education, growth rate and on-the-job training information on various occupations.

Degree-specific internships

For information on internship information for specific majors, go to the home page of the department in which the major is located and, as available, find the link to the information on internships in that major.