Educational Policy Studies

Our department is hosting a Q&A session for prospective graduate students on 10/28 from 11am-12pm CT. If interested, please register with the link below.

Register for Graduate Program Q/A Session
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Photo of the front of the Education Building followed by a Red background with white text that reads "#7 Education Policy" "The Department of Educational Policy Studies at UW-Madison is ranked seventh in the nation in the area of Education Policy!" "*According to U.S. News and World Report's 2024 Best Education Graduate Schools Rankings" followed by an the logo for the Department of Educational Policy Studies.
UW–Madison School of Education up to No. 3 in latest U.S. News rankings
Linn Posey-Maddox Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award Award for Community-Engaged Scholarship University Staff Distinguished Achievement Award Michael Dixon Matthew Wolfgram Bailey Smolarek
The University of Wisconsin–Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin. This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation. Today, UW–Madison respects the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin. Colonialism is an ongoing process. As a department, we recognize and respect the knowledge reflected in the Ho-Chunk’s custodianship of Teejop and in their continuing connection to land, water, and community at UW-Madison. We recognize the violence, displacement, and settlement that shape our relations in and with this space. We must, therefore, as a department committed to justice, commit ourselves to addressing the intentional erasure of indigenous peoples in our policies, practices, teaching and learning; and in our relations to place and with the earth. We encourage all members of the EPS and SOE communities to trace, celebrate, and deepen their own connections to Teejop and to learn about the histories and present stories of the resilient Ho-Chunk presence and relationships that shape Teejop.

Learning about Wisconsin First Nations is another essential step in this process. Please explore these resources:

Indigenous Educational Resources

Our Department

The Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison deepens and expands the understanding of educational policy and practice, past and present, at local, national, and international levels. We examine educational policies, movements, outcomes, dilemmas, and controversies — as well as the forces shaping them — through the lenses of history, sociology, anthropology, political economy, philosophy, policy analysis, and international comparative education.

Our efforts are guided by the conviction that as a diverse community of faculty, staff, and students committed to furthering socially just visions of education, we honor the intellectual and moral ideals of the School of Education and the university, and more effectively achieve our educational and scholarly aspirations.

Degrees, Minors, and Certificates

Current Student Resources

International Visiting Scholars

EPS Professor Rodriguez-Gomez teaching an EPS Grad Course

EPS PhD Funding

All newly admitted students to the Ph.D. program in Educational Policy Studies receive at least five academic years of funding from a combination of school or university fellowships; teaching assistantships; and/or project/research assistantships. In addition, all students receive tuition remission, have access to health insurance, and a competitive living stipend for their first four academic years of study. Details on your exact funding package will be provided at the time of admission.

Frequently Asked Questions About EPS Graduate Programs

How large are graduate courses? Are the master's MA and PhD programs separate? Can I transfer credits from other graduate programs?

If you have these or other questions, please check out our FAQ website! Link is above in the title.

Students, faculty, and staff of the EPS department posing in front of the Education building.

Graduate Dissertations

Recent Awards and Publications

Past Speakers at EPS

Education Studies Major and EPS Certificates

Bachelor of Science (BS) in Education Studies

The Education Studies degree program addresses urgent questions related to domestic and global education policy and practice. Students in this program will focus on the relationships among education, inequality, and social justice. They'll investigate the connections between education and other policy areas, including housing, healthcare, migration, justice, political reforms, economic development, and foreign policy. Graduates of this program will become well-informed leaders who can engage critically, thoughtfully, and ethically in educational policy debates and practices in Wisconsin, the U.S., and the world.

Certificate in Global Cultures, Languages, and Education

The Certificate in Global Cultures, Languages, and Education (GCLE) educates students about global anthropological, sociolinguistic, and language policy and planning perspectives, while providing them with tools to think critically about global language, literacy, and sociocultural contexts.

Certificate in Social Justice and Education

The Certificate in Social Justice and Education, focused on education policy and practice, aims to provide students with a foundational understanding of the social inequities that shape education and broader society, as well as how educators, students, administrators, parents, and community members have responded to these inequities.

Other Undergraduate Programs

Education Studies Majors Harness Critical Analysis to Power Educational Outcomes. They Are Experts In: - Applied Research and Policy Analysis - Local and Global Contexts - Equity and Education They Utilize: - Statistics - Qualitative Data - Archives and Documents - Experiences They Communicate Insights and Strategies to Stakeholders. They Serve As: - Educators - Researchers and Evaluators - Education Specialists - Leaders and Advisors For: - Schools and Communities - Departments of Education and Districts - Government and Non-Profit Organizations - Local and Global Educational Institutions 75% of Education Studies Alumni Are Pursuing Advanced Degrees or in Careers Related to Their Major.

Meet Our Students

Khrysta Evans

Khrysta Evans

Khrysta A. Evans is a PhD candidate in Educational Policy Studies in the Social Sciences concentration at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies. Originally from the Bronx, NY, she earned her BA in Sociology from the University of Maryland, and her MA in Educational Studies from the University of Michigan. As a doctoral student, she is excited to learn about Black girls’ school experiences, particularly about how schools simultaneously serve as a site of socialization and resistance and fugitivity for Black girls. Khrysta has had articles published in Journal of School Psychology and Emerging Adulthood that examine how Black girls’ and women’s peer groups help them to navigate K-12 schools and universities. This year she will be part of the Morgridge Center for Public Service’s 5th Cohort of Morgridge Fellows and the Institute for Research Poverty’s Graduate Research Fellow Program. Currently, she is gearing up to conduct a dissertation on how Black West Indian girls develop spatial knowledge and support networks within schools.

See Student Profiles

Meet Our Faculty

Stacey Lee Headshot

Stacey Lee

Stacey J. Lee is the Frederick Erickson Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Professor of Educational Policy Studies and the Associate Dean for Education in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin. Lee is also a faculty affiliate in the Asian American Studies Program. An educational anthropologist, Lee’s research examines the role of formal and informal education in the incorporation of youth from immigrant and refugee families into the United States. Her primary strand of research focuses on education and the racialization of Asian American youth. She is the author of Unraveling the Model Minority Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth, and Up Against Whiteness: Race, School & Immigrant youth. Her newest book, Resisting Asian American Invisibility: The Politics of Race and Education is forthcoming with Teachers College Press in the fall of 2022. She is currently to co-editor-in-chief of Anthropology & Education Quarterly. Her research has been supported by the Spencer Foundation and she is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association.

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