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Jan 02, 2026
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2025-2026 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog
Education Policy, PhD
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The Education Policy, PhD program provides students with foundational grounding in education policy analysis. Students learn frameworks and methods for evaluating how policies and systems produce educational opportunities and systemic inequities. Students gain a nuanced understanding of the education policy process including policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation, and the methodological approaches used to examine these processes and their effects. And students explore how the (re)design of policies and systems create substantive improvements in learning opportunities for students of all ages. The program includes core content in: education policy systems and implementation, disciplinary grounding, the social contexts of education, policy analysis methods, and electives exploring specific policy topics and issues. The flexible curricular design enables students to choose courses that match their interests. Through apprenticed research experiences, students gain expertise in policy analysis necessary to prepare them to do independent research and pursue careers in policy research.
For additional degree requirement information, refer to the School of Education section on Doctoral Degree Requirements.
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Program Electives (18 Credits)
Students select from a list of suggested courses in the overlapping thematic areas of Social Context, Education Policy, Comparative & International Education, and Higher Education. Students can mix and match thematic area to develop a plan of studies that works for their goals and interests. Students wishing to complete the optional area of concentration in Comparative & International Education need to meet the specific requirements indicated within that thematic area.
Or Optional Area of Concentration: Comparative and International Education (18 credits)
Students can opt to add an area of concentration in Comparative and International Education. Students interested in pursuing a more generally-focused policy degree enroll in the Education Policy major with no ARCO. The Comparative and International area requires the following courses:
Supporting field (9 credits):
As an interdisciplinary program of study, PhD students in the Education Policy program are required to take 9 credits outside of the School of Education representing a coherent disciplinary or thematic focus. We encourage students to consult with their advisors about selecting courses that best align with their goals. Courses taken at a previous institution may be transferred to meet the Supporting Field requirement, if approved by the advisor. No modifications to this requirement are permitted, unless approved by a majority of the program faculty.
Research Methods (21 credits)
Students take a total of 7 courses (21 credits) including the schoolwide, required PhD research methods core and 12 credits of additional courses based on interests.
Additional Graduate-level Electives (9 credits):
Students take 9 additional graduate-level electives. They can be from the program, the School of Education, or any outside area.
Dissertation (0 Credits)
Students enroll in FTDG 0000 to complete their dissertation studies.
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