Education Studies Program History

Yale’s Education Studies Program was created in July 2013 as one of four Multidisciplinary Academic Programs with Dr. Elizabeth Carroll as director. It followed previous Yale Education initiatives including an Education department (1920-1950), a Teacher Preparation Program and Master’s in Urban Education (1947-2011).

By design, the Education Studies Program was grounded in Yale College’s liberal arts curriculum, enabling undergraduate students to examine education from a variety of academic disciplines.  Undergraduates joined the Scholars Program, learning in a cohort together from sophomore to senior year, culminating in a final capstone project. 

In its first year, Education Studies offered 7 courses, and student demand far exceeded space in the Scholars Program.  

In 2017, following Elizabeth Carroll’s move to Facing History in Boston, Mira Debs was hired as the Director. Sociology Professor Grace Kao started as the inaugural Faculty Director. From 2017-2023, under their leadership, the program continued to grow. With the creation of Certificates in 2021, Education Studies moved the Multidisciplinary Academic Program to a Certificate and added a second coursework-based Certificate pathway. Student enrollment tripled in size to 190 students in 2022-2023. Additionally, the directors secured over $3 million in gifts to support Education Studies. As of 2022-2023, the Program offered 42 courses across 13 Yale academic departments.   

In 2023, Linguistics Professor Maria Piñango joined as the Faculty Director with Jasmina Besirevic, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education supporting from Yale College. With their leadership, together with Dr. Debs, Education Studies enters a new development phase, re-emphasizing the three pillars of theory and research, policy and pedagogy, continuing to build faculty support, and strengthening the capstone advising process.