Child, Family & Education Studies

Go to the Program Mapper Link to find your course of study. It will tell you exactly which classes to take each and every semester to complete your program in the shortest time possible. All degrees may be completed within 24 months, or extended to meet your work and personal needs. 

Reach out to our department and we can help you understand what we have to offer and how you can take courses to earn both certificates along the way toward a degree. 

CFES Office: 323-415-5060  or CFES@elac.edu

Students who have taken all of the prerequisites for these courses will automatically be able to enroll in these courses through SIS during their designated enrollment period. If prerequisites have been taken at another college, a course equivalency document will need to be filled out with a counselor in advance, to make sure the SIS system allows enrollment. CH DEV 22 must be completed prior to enrolling in CH DEV 23.

• College certificates are an excellent way to help employers quickly review your transcripts.
• College Certificates of Achievement get posted on your transcripts.
• College certificates are aligned to the state child development permits.
• Child development permits help and are required (most, not all) to get hired as a "teacher" in the early childhood field (some students use it as an avenue toward their ultimate goal if it is not early childhood education).
• College certificates are "nice" looking to post on your wall...proud showcasing!
• College certificates help out the department's funding in support of student success.

Yes, you can apply for certificates if you are not currently attending ELAC. If you have transferred, or it has been some time since you stopped attending, you may need to reactivate your student ID with admissions to be able to complete the certificate application process.

This depends on what school is your declared "home school" when you started college. There is an opportunity to find course equivalency for some classes taken at other colleges, but you need to speak with a counselor as soon as possible to make a plan if this effects you.

If you have taken most of your courses at another LACCD college, you will be instructed to apply for your certificate at that institution. You can email the CFES Department Chair with your transcripts and request at andrada@elac.edu

No. The Child Development Permit is available through the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). Permit Applications and Reimbursement/Stipend Form for application processing fees are available through the Child Development Training Consortium (CDTC). For assistance with your application, please contact Instructional Aide Marsie Mendibles-Koester at mendibm@elac.edu. We recommend that students check out the website ctc.ca.gov to find out the most updated information for the permit from the state of CA. (See links below)

Make an appointment with our CFES Lab (Marsie) using this link. 

Financial aide will cover students up to 150% of their current declared program. This means that students should be able to take some courses outside of their designated path of study to pursue certificates, and courses for enjoyment. Please contact a financial aid counselor to confirm your eligibility and to determine how many units you have currently completed.

In order to get equivalency, you need to fill out a Petition Form to Request Equivalency Credit that can be obtained from the Admissions Office and secure the proper signatures from the CFES Department chair. You can email the Department Chair at andrada@elac.edu

Students enroll to the college first and then enroll in a program. Once you are a registered student with ELAC, you will be given access to the Student SIS Portal; which gives you access to enroll in your classes for the intended program. For more information on the enrollment process and tuition inquiries, please contact the Office of Admissions at https://www.elac.edu/Student-Services/Admissions.

If you do not know what classes or Child Development certificates of degrees you would like to pursue, make an appointment with us here. 

The first step is to add to the class on SIS to be on the waitlist. Only the instructor will be able to provide you a permission number to you, and they will provide numbers to those on the waiting list in numerical order. If you are not sure what number you are on the waiting list, log on to SIS and click on the class you are trying to add to see.

Students that have completed all the courses and other certificate requirements may apply for a ELAC certificate at any time. Students must fill out the correct request for the certificate application - Skills Certificate or Certificate of Achievement. (See both below)

Request for Department Discipline Skills Certificate

Certificate of Achievement

Once the application is complete, the student must reach out to Admissions and Records by sending an email using their student.laccd email to: @email

We can assist you in our CFES office or Lab  - make an appointment here

We strongly encourage you to speak to a counselor, but you can also explore the https://assist.org/ website to learn more about the transfer process.

Asynchronous classes do not have scheduled meeting times. You are able to complete your class work, participation and assignments at your chosen time. You will need to submit completed work by the assigned due dates. Your instructor may post their Office Hours via Zoom, and you have the choice to participate if you desire to ask questions or get clarification about assignments.

If you wish to add to a class that is already full, you may list your name on the waitlist for the course. To do this, you need to login to SIS and add yourself to to the class as if it was not full. You will be notified that the class is full, but be placed on the waitlist automatically.

Email is currently the best way to contact a professor. If you do not know what their email address is, please refer to your syllabus, or check the Faculty & Staff section on the left side of this screen for a list of all CH DEV, EDUC & FAM &CS instructors.

First log into your SIS account, then click on the class that you would like to Zoom with. You will see Zoom as an option on the left side of the screen. Click Zoom, and you should be automatically signed in.

Asynchronous classes do not have scheduled meeting times. In the schedule of classes, you will see just the number of hours scheduled for the week. (For example: 3hrs 20 min) If a day and time is listed, this is a Synchronous class, and you will be expected to be available on the day and time listed for lecture or other meetings.