Online Master's in Education: International Education Policy and Management

Our prescribed curriculum is intentionally designed to meet your professional needs. It is anchored in both foundational knowledge and core competencies in education policy and program design and management. You will also have the opportunity to select courses from a small subset of electives. A minimum of 42 credits are required to graduate with an Ed.M. degree from HGSE.

The main elements of this academic year curriculum are:

Foundations Courses

Throughout the two-year program, you will participate in Foundations courses in up to four areas: How People Learn, Leading Change, Evidence, and Advancing Equity and Opportunity. Through the Foundations, you’ll build core skills central to the profession of education.

• The online Ed.M. program commences with How People Learn, which runs online June–July and requires a time commitment of 12–15 hours per week.  
• You will take Advancing Equity and Opportunity and Leading Change during your two-year program.
• Additional Foundations learning goals and experiences tied to Evidence will be incorporated into other required courses during your two-year program. 

 Core Required Courses

Students will take core courses that align with the following sectors in which their work will make an impact.  

• Program Management & Development: Equips you to do changemaking work within the international education ecosystem including at multilateral and development agencies, foundations and philanthropic organizations, universities and educational institutions.
• Comparative Education Policy: Prepares you to draw on comparative research to design policies and programs to improve education systems and teaches you a range of methodologies of policy analysis, preparing you for policy roles in governments at national, state and local levels, private organizations, and other entities collaborating with governments, including foundations and international development agencies.
• Other courses you may take include:
  • Education in Uncertainty
  • Strategic Finance for Nonprofit Leaders
  • Using Evidence to Improve Teaching and Learning

Elective coursework

Students will have the opportunity to choose from a curated list of electives during the fall and spring of their second year.

• Electives include:
  • Writing Workshop
  • Program Evaluation
  • Global Perspectives on AI in Education

Courses combine synchronous meetings and asynchronous work and assignments. Live or synchronous aspects of required courses will occur on varied weekdays (Monday–Friday)  between 8 and 11 a.m. ET. Typically, students in the program will take 8–10 credits per semester. At HGSE part-time students must take at least six credits but no more than 10 credits per semester.  

On average, this degree requires 14–20 hours per week of work. Students can expect to spend approximately five to seven hours per week in synchronous online class sessions with faculty members and classmates. The remainder of the hours will be spent working independently on assignments, asynchronously in courses, or in groups with other students from your cohort. Typically, students can expect to dedicate an estimated 8–10 hours a week for assignments per course, but this may increase during busier times of the semester. 

Students will work closely with faculty associated with their area of study, but students can also work with and take courses with faculty throughout HGSE. View our faculty directory for a full list of HGSE faculty. 

The International Education Policy and Management Pathway prepares you for a variety of leadership, technical, strategic, and programmatic careers in a range of areas, including: 

• Government and public sector 
• Multilateral and intergovernmental organizations 
• Philanthropy and foundations 
• NGO and civil society organizations 
• Education policy, research, and data 
• Higher education 
• Entrepreneurship, startups, and multinational companies engaging in education platforms and systems