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As the United States moves toward expanding programs for pre-kindergarten children — in Universal Preschool (UPK) movements — we in higher education are asking ourselves some how-to questions about implementation. The following are nine facts about higher education.

• Demand is growing for teachers qualified with a bachelor's degree in Early Care and Education (ECE). Thirty-eight states have state-funded Pre-K, and 33 of them increased their enrollment in 2008 (NIEER Yearbook, 2008). More than 200,000 skilled and knowledgeable teachers will be needed in ECE classrooms if UPK voluntary programs were nationwide, as estimated by Dick Clifford at the University of North Carolina's Frank Porter Graham Center. We know that young children are vulnerable to harm if their teachers lack the necessary early childhood skills and developmental knowledge. We know that the expected positive results of Pre-K education — engaged learning, emotional resiliency, social skills, and academic achievement — are related ...