GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT (GSEHD) ELEVATE
EDUCATION, LEADERSHIP, COUNSELING, AND POLICY
YOU WANT IMP
Being a part of GSEHD has been one of the best decisions I have made. I now feel well prepared to serve the community while providing services to families and children in the DC area. Completing my education here has taught me to be independent, confdent, and resilient.Thank you to GSEHD, my professors, peers, and family for your guidance and support!”
Tatyana Suares, M.A. ’20 (Clinical Mental Health Counseling)
ANT TO MAKE AN IMPACT WE’LL SHOW YOU HOW
Our world is driven by rapid change. To address the most critical issues in education, counseling, leadership, and policy, we need well-prepared professionals who can create lasting change. There is no better place to prepare than the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development.
We give rising leaders the tools to take on complex issues and emerging challenges. Join our students, faculty, and alumni as we:
• Research solutions to pressing issues
• Apply cutting-edge research in communities near and far
• Infuence policy and practice
Whether you are beginning your graduate school search or already relishing your acceptance to GSEHD, we urge you to explore, be inquisitive, and always make the most of your chance to make an impact.
SMALL SCHOOL, MAJOR RESEARCH UNIVERSITY
“ Our faculty draw from leading-edge research in such areas as intelligent technology and brain development to create knowledge relevant at all levels of education. It’s exciting to see faculty and students use new fndings to inform their coursework and solve problems of practice.”
Dr.
Maxine Freund Associate Dean for Research and External Relations Professor, Special Education and Disability Studies
GSEHD offers a small school experience with intimate classes—often with 10 or fewer students— easy access to faculty, and a strong sense of community. Students also have access to the resources of a research university, including diverse research labs, student groups, libraries, and crosscollaborative initiatives between schools.
Recent Faculty Research Topics
• Teaching Wellbeing and Retention
• Educational Equity and Student Success
• Enhancing Organizational Leadership
• Integrating Technology into the Classroom
• Improving Mental Health Services in Diverse Communities
• Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Informal Learning Environments
• International Education and Development
CONFRONT COMPLEX ISSUES
GSEHD’s students, faculty, and staff confront the most complex issues in their felds to make an impact on society and to drive progress. Our graduate programs foster exceptional leadership skills, empowering educators, administrators, counselors, researchers, and more to make a difference in their respective disciplines.
“
GW’s programs have professors that don’t just talk the talk, but who put their teaching into practice for every single class. As a disabled person who didn’t really understand my disability until later in college, my biggest fear going into graduate school was that I wouldn’t be able to handle it. The professors hold us to high standards because they believe in us and have our back 100%.”
Natalia Mazza, M.A. ‘23
(Special Education for Children with Emotional & Behavioral Disabilities)
Programs That Make A Difference
A complete listing of GSEHD programs, along with program descriptions and admission requirements, is available at go.gwu.edu/gsehd.
Counseling
Address diverse and critical concerns within the feld of mental health counseling. Our programs prepare students to become professional practitioners in an expansive range of counseling specialties, including school counseling, clinical mental health counseling, rehabilitation counseling, and career and workforce development.
Teacher Preparation and Curriculum Design
The curricular and pedagogical tools used in our nation’s schools are the foundation for educational and societal transformation. We offer the highest level of training for individuals preparing for a career in K-12 teaching, as well as for professionals aiming to become specialists in curriculum design.
Organizational Leadership
Advance your leadership skills to effectively lead change and sustainably manage organizations of all types. Students work closely with faculty to learn theoretical applications, new research, and best practices in order to facilitate organizational growth.
Special Education
A fast-growing feld, special educators are in high-demand to promote inclusion and equity for all learners. Students in our special education programs are expertly trained to meet the diverse needs of children and youth with, or at-risk for, disabilities. Faculty offer close mentorship to help students gain the knowledge and skills to make a lasting difference in schools and communities.
Education Leadership and Policy
Offering a wide array of programs within education policy, leadership, and administration, students integrate theory with practice to become successful leaders in their felds. Alumni are well equipped with the skills needed to solve problems, implement new policy, and drive change for good in ways that reform and transform communities worldwide.
PhD/Research
Our PhD students confront the most complex issues in the feld of education–including evolving technology, inequality, leadership, policy, and more–while engaging the institutions and experts to make a direct impact on society. Scholars gather ideas from many felds while also choosing a concentration that enables them to hone their specifc focus.
” At GSEHD, I learned a lot about how to communicate and learn with professors and classmates with different cultural backgrounds. I took classes with more than ten excellent professors, all of which have given me a deep impression. I believe the knowledge taught by all these professors will be very helpful to my future teaching. I look forward to applying what I have learned to my future career and to my students as well.”
Siyu Shen, M.A.’21 (Curriculum and Instruction)
WASHINGTON, D.C. IS
A CLASSROOM LIKE NO OTHER
Our location in the heart of the nation’s capital—the epicenter of policy, practice, and research—provides a distinct advantage: extraordinary access to extraordinary opportunities and leaders.
GW students utilize the city as an extended classroom. Our faculty have long-standing relationships with federal agencies, infuential organizations, and cultural institutions not to mention more than 150 urban and suburban public, charter, and private schools.
For a virtual tour of the GW campus, scan the QR code:
“ To be right here to be able to attend the class on education policy making and then to go and spend an hour on the hill talking to staff, where else can you do that?”
Dr. Michael Feuer Dean, Graduate School of Education and Human Development
FROM CLASSROOM TO WORKPLACE
Our practical, real-world curriculum is designed to empower students to apply knowledge gained in the classroom into the workplace—often the very next day. GSEHD students work or intern in some of Washington, D.C.’s most infuential and prestigious organizations, as well as in research labs across GW, and in local school districts and organizations.
• Elementary Education students are matched with local school partners where they student teach in diverse settings. Ellie Schreier (M.Ed. ‘22) explained that her cohort “had the diffcult task of welcoming students back to elementary school from almost two years of virtual learning. It was a challenging and demanding year. I feel not only ready, but excited to create a new place for learning.”
“ I interned with the Education Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at UNESCO’s Regional Bureau of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREAL) in Santiago, Chile. I conducted a qualitative research project on Latin America’s post-COVID educational recovery to learn more about how Latin American nations have tried to mitigate education loss due to school closures and online learning as cause of COVID-19.”
Stacy Peralta-Ortiz, ’23 (International Education), 2022 GW UNESCO Fellow
• GSEHD’s Community Counseling Services Center serves the mental health needs of diverse populations in Washington, D.C. and in Alexandria, VA. It also serves as a clinical training facility for our counseling master’s and doctoral students. A unique feature of our academic programs, the training students gain gives them a career edge even before graduation.
• For more than 30 years, K-12 teachers and administrators have trained in our Educational Leadership and Administration programs while maintaining employment in a school. Students in our programs become highly qualifed through faculty mentorship and instruction in school leadership and management.
“ The research skills that I have developed while studying at GSEHD have had an immediate effect on my job.The connection between research and practice has been a great experience in my time at GSEHD.”
Kevin Knudson (Human and Organizational Learning EdD started Fall 2020)
GSEHD FAST FACTS
Founded in 1909 as GW’s Teachers’ College
400 800 10 79
Number of Number of Master’s Average Class Size Number of Faculty Doctoral Students and Certifcate Students
150+ 4 1500+ 86%
Number of agreements Blocks from Number of internships, Eligible students who with schools, clinics, the White House part-time jobs, co-ops received a scholarship (GW is also walking distance museums, and cultural and service opportunities to many governmental and organizations in D.C. university wide non-governmental agencies)
50%
27,500
1
Students of color and international Number of GSEHD alumni in 75 UNESCO Chair for International students in GSEHD’s student body countries worldwide Education for Development
GSEHD provided focused instruction and practical experience in a feld I was pretty sure I liked, but quickly learned I loved.The program was a very important part of my career—defnitely one of the smartest moves I’ve made.Thank you!”
Rachel Quimby, M.A.’16
Public Programs Coordinator/Museum Educator, EcoTarium,Worcester, Massachusetts
See what GSEHD is all about for yourself! To register for a tour of our campus or to access a list of upcoming events, please visit:
