Midway through the second decade of this century, the importance of early care and education (ECE) to children's lifelong learning and to the nation's economic well-being is recognized up to the highest levels of government, and in businesses, schools, and living rooms across the country. This understanding represents a dramatic shift from earlier decades, and carries with it heightened expectations for what teachers of young children should know and be able to do, in light of mounting evidence about inadequate and unequal educational quality, particularly for children of color and those living in low-income families. In recent years, California and other states have committed many public and private resources toward multiple efforts to improve educational services and to ensure that teacher education degree and certification programs can better prepare their graduates to meet the complex needs of young children of all ages. Concern remains about the capacity of California's institutions of higher education to meet the evolving and increasing demands identified as critical to improving developmental and learning outcomes for the state's ethnically, racially, linguistically, and economically diverse young child population. This report looks at the status of early childhood higher education offerings in California and how programs have evolved over the last decade. The report examines the extent to which California's early childhood preparation programs at colleges and universities are able to effectively prepare teachers and adapt to emerging research and changes in the policy environment, and calls for aligning the current system with the 21st-century expectations for teachers of young children. [For the highlights to this report, "Teaching the Teachers of Our Youngest Children: The State of Early Childhood Higher Education in California, 2015. Highlights," see ED574292. For the technical report, "The State of Early Childhood Higher Education in California. Technical Report," see ED574293.]