The advanced-track Master of Arts in Child Life degree will give you the necessary education to be a competent certified child life specialist (CCLS). Available online and in person, this program is designed for candidates who are already certified or who have met ACLP requirement coursework requirements.
The advanced-track Master of Arts in Child Life Program at Eastern offers you:
You'll be more competitive for clinical practicum, internship, and in the job market.
You'll gain research skills unique to the child life field and supervisory and managerial skills for administrative-level positions.
You can earn your degree in person at the Cheney campus or online.
The application will be open Jan - March.
To apply for this program you must have one of the following:
If you meet one of the criteria above, get started on your application. If you don’t meet any of the above criteria, please fill out an EWU post-baccalaureate application instead.
As part of the application process, you’ll be asked to:
Eastern Washington University, in collaboration with Child Life Connection, offers a child life community practicum opportunity for a total of 140+ hours of experience.:
Our ideal applicant is a graduate student with 10 ACLP required courses in progress or complete. Your CCLS taught Theory & Practice course and at least one course focused on development must be completed prior to starting the Child Life Community Practicum.
EWU Child Life graduate students get priority placement, with any remaining offers being extended to graduate students from other graduate programs. Participating students must be eligible to complete required COVID vaccines to have access to the 20+ hours of shadowing.
To apply for the Child Life Community Practicum, please send a cover letter and resume to Belinda Hammond, EdD, CCLS, CIMI to bhammond4@ewu.edu.
Acceptance of the offer requires enrollment in our Child Life Community Practicum (virtual). If you are a graduate student elsewhere, you can speak with your advisor about transferring this course back to your home university as an elective/practicum.
The first of its kind, Eastern has been offering a child life community practicum experience virtually since 2020. While traditional practicums provide in-person shadowing in 1-2 hospital units, this virtual experience focuses not only on those traditional hospital settings but also on community-based child life opportunities, introducing many of our students to new career opportunities within the field of child life! Our students are actively involved in virtual medical camps and in-hospital studio programming for more hands-on experiences with pediatric patients and the use of technology.
In-person shadowing experiences provide our practicum students with the closest child life team (for each student) for 20+ hours of shadowing. With specific experiences using technology for therapeutic interventions, and an introduction to a range of units/settings of child life practice, our past students have been able to provide unique examples of experiences and goals in the profession, which has set them apart from other internship candidates.
This experience meets the Association of Child Life Professionals recommended standards for a practicum experience – and includes each of the Internship Readiness Modules from the Association of Child Life Professionals Modules.
The following information comes from the official EWU catalog, which outlines all degree requirements and serves as the guide to earning a degree. Courses are designed to provide a well-rounded and versatile degree, covering a wide range of subject areas.
Child Life, Master of Arts (MA)
| Required Core Courses | 25 | |
| FAMILY SYSTEMS IN HEALTHCARE | ||
| CHILD LIFE RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES | ||
| ADMINISTRATION IN CHILD LIFE PROGRAMS | ||
| CHILD LIFE GRANT WRITING | ||
| CHILD LIFE THESIS | ||
or CDST 601 | CHILD LIFE RESEARCH PROJECT | |
| Required Electives–All students are required to take four electives. Additional electives available with prior approval from Child Life Advisor. | 19-20 | |
| DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN CHILDHOOD | ||
| TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE WITH CHILDREN AND FAMILIES | ||
| MINDFULNESS AND ALTERNATIVE PRACTICES FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN | ||
| DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN | ||
| PEDIATRIC MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY | ||
| CHILD LIFE PRACTICE ASSESSMENT AND PREPARATION | ||
| SCHOOL REINTEGRATION AND SUPPORT | ||
| PEDIATRIC PALLIATIVE CARE | ||
| NON-TRADITIONAL CHILD LIFE | ||
| INTERNATIONAL CHILD LIFE | ||
| Required Clinical Experience–for students who need hospital affiliation for child life practicum or child life internship. | 0-6 | |
| CHILD LIFE PRACTICUM AND INTERNSHIP | ||
| Total Credits | 44-51 | |
Upon successful completion of the advanced track MA in Child Life, students will be able to: