Educational Foundations: Program Overview
This degree specialization is housed within the Educational Studies program, which fosters links among students and faculty in a number of specializations sharing a commitment to the integration of theory and research on teaching, learning, and educational access in P-12 settings. Studies in Educational Foundations and Policy can be pursued at the master’s or doctoral level. In both cases, the emphasis is on the study of education from the perspective of one or more disciplines. The disciplines currently represented in the faculty are history, philosophy, political science, and sociology. These disciplinary foci can be pursued in depth, as when one seeks to become a historian or philosopher of education, or they can be pursued in an effort to develop scholarly strength in the cross-disciplinary areas of cultural studies, policy studies, or teaching and teacher education.
One of the superb advantages of graduate study at the UM School of Education is the programmatic flexibility offered to our students. While there are guidelines and procedures for each degree specialization, it is the student and his or her adviser who together determine the student’s program of study. In addition to centering academic authority (and responsibility) on the adviser and student, the University takes considerable pride in the “soft” and permeable boundaries that separate the various departments, schools, and colleges on campus. Thus our students can be found taking courses in such places as the Business School; the Ford School of Public Policy; the School of Information; the departments of philosophy, history, political science, sociology, anthropology; the School of Social Work; the Institute for Social Research; and many others.
The School of Education offers Educational Foundations degrees at both the Master's and Doctoral levels.
Doctoral degree in Educational Foundations
Doctoral study at the University of Michigan focuses on the preparation of scholars who are highly skilled at advancing knowledge and understanding in their respective fields. The specialization in Educational Foundations and Policy offers applicants a broad array of choices for scholarly concentration, from history or philosophy of education, sociology of education or cultural studies, to the politics of education or educational policy studies, as well as the disciplinary study of teaching and teacher education.
Doctoral students work very closely with their academic advisers, and are typically engaged in a research project with other students and faculty. Students with master’s degrees closely allied with their area of doctoral studies may complete course work in two years, advancing to candidacy upon successful completion of a preliminary examination. Absent a relevant master’s degree, advancement to candidacy may take place at the conclusion of the third year of study. Only students prepared to devote full time to doctoral study are considered for admission. Completion of the dissertation and awarding of the doctoral degree within five years of matriculation is considered appropriate progress (but longer times are the norm, due to students becoming more fully engaged in teaching classes or in their research projects).
It is also worth noting that, as a unit within Michigan's Educational Studies Program, the Educational Foundations PhD program is a national partner in the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching.
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Master’s Degree in Educational Foundations
The master’s degree program is intended as an introduction to the scholarly study of education. It may be used as a terminal degree (in the sense that the student does not intend to pursue a higher degree) or as preparation for the doctoral degree at this or another university. While the student is asked to concentrate a portion of his or her study, the degree offers considerable flexibility for broad inquiries across issues of educational theory and practice.
The program of study for this degree is 30 credit hours (view the planning sheet for this degree). Preparation of a thesis is optional, and there is no general examination at the conclusion of course work. Most full-time students complete the degree in a year and one-half, while others have taken two academic years. It is also possible to complete the degree in one academic year by enrolling for courses during the spring and summer sessions, in addition to taking four courses in each of the fall and winter terms. However relevant graduate course offerings can be difficult to find during the spring and summer terms. Part-time study for this degree is permitted.
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