Quick answer: 10 colleges within 100 miles of Mason City, Iowa award an early childhood education degree, the nearest about 24 miles away (IPEDS Completions, 2024).
| Distance from Mason City | Colleges awarding this degree |
|---|---|
| Within 25 miles | 1 |
| Within 50 miles | 1 |
| Within 100 miles | 10 |
| Within 250 miles | 61 |
Source: IPEDS Completions, 2024, counting institutions that reported awarding this degree, joined to IPEDS institution coordinates. Distances are straight-line.
Access around Mason City is thinner than in the larger Iowa metros. The nearest college awarding this degree is roughly 24 miles away and 10 sit within 100 miles, which is the case where an online or low-residency program earns its keep.
The subject matter does not change by location: child development from birth through age eight, early literacy, play-based curriculum design, observation and assessment, and supervised classroom hours. What changes is how you take it. Ask each college whether the program holds accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), how much of the coursework is delivered online, and which components require you on campus. Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
This page lists 10 schools within 166 miles, nearest first in 25-mile distance bands, then by BOC Score inside each band with the highest at the top. 10 of them carry a score.
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal about the institution rather than about this subject. Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in Iowa earn a median $58,420 per year against $62,680 nationally (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The Iowa median for kindergarten teachers, except special education is $58,420 per year, below the national median of $62,680, on state employment of 1,160 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
These are statewide figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish wages at city level, so no page can tell you what this job pays in Mason City specifically. For the metro-level picture where it is published, and the full percentile spread, see the Iowa page.
Cedar Falls * Waterloo * Fort Dodge * Marshalltown * Ames * Coralville * Iowa City * Dubuque
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
