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Degrees & Programs
If you have program-specific questions, please contact OEL Director Nicole Barone.
Every decision educators make has the potential to strengthen learning, support teachers, and improve outcomes for students. HGSE's PreK–12 Pathway is designed for experienced education professionals who want to expand that impact across schools, districts, and the broader education ecosystem.
Through this two-year, part-time online Ed.M. experience, you’ll build upon the expertise you already bring while developing new perspectives on leadership, learning, and systems change.
Learn alongside a diverse cohort of education professionals who bring experiences from schools, districts, nonprofits, policy organizations, and communities around the world. Through engagement with Harvard faculty, collaborative learning, and conversations grounded in practice, you’ll examine the challenges facing education today and explore new approaches to creating stronger outcomes for students.
After completing the pathway, you will be prepared to:
Our prescribed curriculum is intentionally designed to meet your professional needs. It is anchored in both foundational knowledge and core competencies in education leadership related to the U.S. education system. You will also complete pathway-specific courses to advance your leadership in higher education or preK–12 education, as well as the Foundations courses. 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:
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.
All students will choose between the Higher Education and PreK–12 Pathways. Throughout the program, you will take both cross-pathway courses and pathway-specific courses. Cross-pathway courses will allow you to develop leadership skills that are important across sectors, as well as have discussions about how higher education and preK–12 can work more effectively together. Cross-pathway courses include:
Pathway-specific courses are directed to the knowledge and skills important for leadership in the Pathway professional setting.
Sample courses for the PreK–12 Pathway:
Students will have the opportunity to choose from a curated list of electives during the optional January terms, and during the fall and spring of their second year. Sample elective courses:
Note: Though some courses may include comparative and international examples, applicants should expect a focus on leadership within U.S. domestic educational institutions and systems.
To help you manage, lead, and implement change in complex organizations, our curriculum explores the core leadership competencies that you'll need to elevate your skills, knowledge, and expertise, wherever you are in your career. Throughout your coursework, you will strengthen your ability to:
Courses combine synchronous meetings and asynchronous work and assignments. Live or synchronous aspects of required courses will occur on weekdays (Monday–Friday) between 6 and 9 p.m. ET. Some elective courses, outside the required curriculum, may be offered at alternative times. On average, this degree requires 14 to 20 hours of work per week, though the weekly commitment will vary by term, courses taken, and students' own work styles. Students can expect to spend approximately five to seven hours per week in synchronous online class sessions with faculty members and classmates. The remaining hours will be spent working independently on asynchronous class preparation, in self-scheduled small-group work with other students or working on assignments.
To complete the online Ed.M. in Education Leadership, students must complete 42 total credit hours of coursework over the two-year program. While the weekly time commitment varies, the graphic below provides a snapshot of the estimated weekly time commitment students may experience during the fall and spring semesters, when they will typically take 8 credits, the equivalent of two courses.
Includes live, scheduled sessions with faculty members and other students.
Self-paced activities, discussion posts, and other course-related work.
Readings, projects, papers, research, etc.
Hours reflect estimates and vary by term, course, and student work style.
Occurs between Monday-Friday, according to a specific schedule.
Asynchronous work and assignments will have clear deadlines or milestones, but students can set their own schedules to complete this work. Note that there may be days or weeks during the semester that are busier than average, requiring more than the estimated time shown.
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 and Harvard. View our faculty directory for a full list of HGSE faculty.
A former teacher, principal, assistant superintendent, chief academic officer, and foundation leader, Irvin Scott's focus is on education leadership and faith-based education.
Prior to kicking off your first fall semester, you will participate in the On-Campus Institute, an immersive experience on the HGSE campus in Cambridge. This will provide the opportunity to not only form deep relationships with your cohort, but also learn together with the faculty and advisers with whom you will spend two years. The immersive residential experience is a core component to the two-year degree program that is required of all students in the program.
Over several days in late July and/or early August, you and your fellow peers will discuss your professional experiences and examine some of the persistent challenges in your organizations. You will immerse yourself in rich exercises and community building, set expectations of what it means to be in a rigorous HGSE degree program, and set intentions for yourself, your cohort, and your course of study.
The Master's in Education Leadership Program prepares you to advance to a senior leadership role in a variety of careers, including:
PreK-12 Pathway
Overall Program
*Note: This program is not able to provide principal certification at this time.
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Explore examples of the Online Master's in Education experience and the impact its community is making on the field:
Alfred Santos, the 2026 winner of the Phyllis Strimling Award, helps female students see STEM as a reachable field
HGSE’s online students share what they’ve learned and how they’re applying it in real time