The Mission of The Graduate Program

The Department of Educational Policy Studies offers an interdisciplinary program leading to both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The department is dedicated to the study of educational policy in its various manifestations and to the study of traditionally defined fields such as anthropology of education, comparative and international education, history of education, philosophy of education, and sociology of education. The number of budgeted faculty in the department is twelve. Twelve to eighteen students enter the department each year. The department includes faculty with interests in education beyond the United States and has formed ties with institutions and scholars in other countries.

Graduates of the department pursue a variety of academic, governmental, and private sector careers. They may be found across the United States in departments of educational policy studies, educational foundations and other departments within schools of education; in organizations dedicated to educational research; in government and foundation work; and, in many other countries, in both higher education and ministries of education.

The department's graduate students are diverse. They come with a wide range of backgrounds in education and in the liberal arts. They vary in age, ethnicity, and social background, as well as prior practical and educational experience. Students thus provide a resource for one another's scholarly development. Some EPS courses are cross-listed in the College of Letters and Science; others are cross-listed with other departments in the School of Education. They consequently attract students who approach material with a broad range of intellectual perspectives and complementary knowledge.

Despite the variety structured into the program, the small size of the department often leads to closer ties between students and faculty than are possible in most larger departments. Doctoral students generally come to know several faculty well and have an opportunity to work closely with more than one.

Program Information

Michael Fultz, Departmental Chair
221 Education Building
(608) 262-1760
fultz@education.wisc.edu