Graduate Certificate in Educational Policy

Description of Certificate Program

The education of children and adults is continually under scrutiny by local, state, and international national interest groups and consumers. Educational institutions both formal and non-formal are being challenged and transformed through restructuring and reform initiatives. Because education is continually looked to as a socialization agent, educators are called upon to address social problems both outside and inside schools at an accelerating rate. The nature of contemporary educational practice requires effective and creative policy responses on a continuous basis. Administrators and policy professionals need the skills to carry out effective policy planning, analysis, implementation, and valuation that respond to current issues in educational policy. The certificate program targets educational professionals in a variety of roles who aspire to, or are currently engaged in, the development, analysis implementation, or evaluation of educational policies.

Program Information

Florida State University's Certificate program in Educational Policy offers preparation in policy analysis as applied to education policy, and can be completed either on a full-time or part-time basis. Students select a program of study that will fit their individual needs and take into account their prior work experience, educational attainment, and professional aspirations.

The Certificate program in Educational Policy is appropriate for a wide range of people with professional interests and experience in education policy both domestically and internationally. The program offers training for students working in, or contemplating careers at, institutions of higher education, elementary and secondary education, or state and national agencies working in education policy.

Admission Requirements

Students must meet the minimum requirements for admission to Florida State University at the graduate level as a regular degree seeking student or as a special student. Students should have had some prior experience in a professional role related to educational policy or have career goals, personal interests, education and professional experiences consistent with the philosophy, structure and content of the certificate program.

Basic Degree Requirements

This program requires a minimum of 18 credit hours of course work including courses from the departments of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies and Educational Leadership. Students complete three required classes as part of the Certificate, and select the remainder from an approved list of electives. The elective courses are distributed in three areas, Social Sciences and Foundations of Education Policy, Areas of Policy Practice, and Approaches to Policy Studies. Course work taken as electives should be in areas of professional interest to the individual student, subject to approval by the student's academic advisor and graduate supervisory committee. Students must earn a GPA of 3.0 in the certificate course work to qualify for the certificate.

The typical framework used by the academic advisor and individual students in developing a program of studies includes three core courses:

A. Core Courses: 9 credit hours

• EDF 5641 Introduction to Policy Studies in Education
• EDA 5652 Policy Development in Education
• EDA 5288 Politics of Education

B. Other Core (Select One): 3 credit hours

• EDF 5569 State Education Policy
• EDF 5935 Special Topic: Federal Education Policy
• EDF 5935 Special Topic: Urban Education Policy

C. Electives (Select Two): 6 credit hours

Humanities and Social Sciences

• EDF 5630 Sociology of Education
• EDF 5551 Social Philosophies and Education or EDF 5935 Special Topic: Religion & Diversity in Education
• EDF 5517 History of Education in the U.S. or EDF 5519 History of Higher Education
• EDF 5935 Special Topic: Economics of Education

Areas of Policy Practice

• EDA 5232 Legal Aspects of School Administration
• EDA 5242 School Finance
• EDF 5850 International Development Education
• EDF 5853 Comparative Educational Policy
• EDH 5405 Legal Aspects of Higher Education Administration
• EDH 5505 Finance in Higher Education
• EDH 5931 Special Problems: Institutional Research

Approaches to Policy Studies

• ADE 5773 Strategies for Participatory Research, Planning & Evaluation
• EDF 5631 Education and Equality (applied regression)
• EDF 5626 Economic Evaluation of Education Programs
• EDF 5661 The Language of Education Policy
• EDF 6648 Policy Analysis in Education
• EDF 5461 Program Evaluation *

* This course is offered in the College of Education's Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems.

Comments about Certificate Program from Alumni

"My training in the policy certificate program offered me the opportunity to develop a broad and interdisciplinary perspective on education. Studying the anthropology, economics, philosophy, politics, and history of education in a comparative manner affords me the complex understanding of policy necessary to conduct policy analysis in a changing and global environment." Angela C. de Siqueira '99

"The courses taken for the Educational Policy Certificate have proved to be most valuable in providing a better understanding of the various facets of evaluation and policy analysis, especially those utilizing mixed methods." Mark Mahoney '99

For further information regarding the academic program, please contact:

Amy McKnight, Certificate coordinator:mcknight@coe.fsu.edu