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Degrees & Programs
If you have program-specific questions, please contact HDE Assistant Director Mandy Farhoodi-Moberger.
If you have admissions-related questions, please email gseadmissions@harvard.edu.
The Human Development and Education (HDE) Program prepares you to support the unique needs and growth of all learners — whether you are interested in exploring a direct service role, starting a nonprofit organization, engaging in clinical or counseling work, or pursuing doctoral research. By linking theories and pioneering research with practice and policy about child, adolescent, and adult development, you will have opportunities to examine different developmental domains — including cognitive, emotional, social, moral, and neurological — as well as design strategies and interventions to promote healthy development.
"We know much about the science of human development, but we are just beginning to figure out how to communicate and enact it to actually better the world. Our program helps our students gain a deeper understanding of learning and growth across diverse contexts, as they explore their professional roles in supporting human development for children, families, and communities." Junlei LiFaculty Co-Chair
"We know much about the science of human development, but we are just beginning to figure out how to communicate and enact it to actually better the world. Our program helps our students gain a deeper understanding of learning and growth across diverse contexts, as they explore their professional roles in supporting human development for children, families, and communities."
Junlei LiFaculty Co-Chair
After completing the HDE Program, you will have a deeper understanding of the following competencies that explore how:
The HDE Program is designed to help you gain the knowledge and skills essential to promoting healthy development for all learners. 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:
To fulfill the program requirement, students must take a minimum of 12 credits specific to HDE, including the following:
Explore our course catalog.Note, all information and courses are subject to change.
Current students in the 2025–2026 HDE school counseling pathway, students who have completed the HDE school counseling licensure pathway year 1, or who are graduates of the counseling strand in the Prevention Science and Practice or Risk and Prevention programs may be eligible to apply to the Certificate of Advanced Study in Counseling program. Prospective students who have not yet enrolled at HGSE will no longer be eligible for this pathway. This program is year 2 of the school counseling pathway and allows students to continue the curricular sequence and remaining field hours required for licensure to enter K–12 schools as school or adjustment counselors. The 2026–2027 academic year will be the final opportunity to enroll in the Certificate of Advanced Study (C.A.S.) in Counseling at HGSE, as the program will officially sunset after this cycle.
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.
Dana Charles McCoy's work focuses on understanding the ways that poverty-related risk factors in children's home, school, and neighborhood environments affect the development of their cognitive and socioemotional skills in early childhood.
Jon Star is an educational psychologist who studies children's learning of mathematics in middle and high school, particularly algebra. Star's current research explores the development of flexibility in mathematical problem solving.
The HDE Program prepares you to make a meaningful impact in a variety of career pathways, including:
You will join an extraordinary cohort of students representing a rich diversity of personal and professional backgrounds. As an HDE student, you will engage in events and professional development opportunities that build community — including discussions about career pathways, conversations with faculty members about their research interests, and other community events. You will find that your cohort members exhibit energy, curiosity, and compassion, as well as a common commitment to understanding the deepest puzzles of development and addressing the greatest practical challenges. This community results in an exhilarating learning environment that forms the basis for lifelong friendships and long-term professional networks.
The deadline to apply is January 5, 2026.
Explore examples of the Human Development and Education experience and the impact its community is making on the field:
Jin Li Lim and Ink Thanajaro will be honored with the Intellectual Contribution Award for the Human Development and Education Program
After winning a Fulbright, Zion Dyson, Ed.M.’24, has returned to Cambodia to expand the children's music program she began as an undergrad.