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Students & Alumni

POLS students are ambitious and action-oriented. They come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, including teaching, school systems leadership, business, education technology, and government. What they share is a desire to develop the skills and knowledge they need to be effective leaders.

POLS cohorts bring together small, diverse groups of students to widen each other’s view of leadership in various domains of education. Peer learning and support form a key component of the program, modeling the connectivity and collaboration crucial to education leadership. Moreover, POLS students graduate with a network of connections that extends beyond the program year.

Our students

Antonio Hernandez
Antonio Hernandez
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: Education Policy, Healthcare Policy, Community Partnerships, Medical Education, Youth Civic Engagement, School Board Governance, Educational Equity, Transformative Leadership, Organizational and Systemic Change, Joy in Education
Katie Daugherty
Katie Daugherty
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: K-12 education policy and implementation, teacher pay, teacher retention, curriculum design, literacy development, leadership in public schools.
Christian Fincher
Christian Fincher
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: Post-secondary Pathways; Dual Enrollment; College Success; Coaching; Writing
Nesreen Ezzeddine
Nesreen Ezzeddine
Class: 2024
Areas of interest: Civic education, higher education access, community colleges, community engagement, democracy building.

View profiles of all students

Field project

3 Lessons Schools Can Learn From Startups

Hannah Chia

Working with Entangled.Group was a true privilege and eye-opening experience. “3 Lessons Schools Can Learn From Startups” captures my reflections on this experience and the other two documents are...


Lessons in Leadership: The Importance of Fostering Compassionate Intergroup Dialogue Skills in Organizational Leaders & Community Spaces

Theodore Poling

Stanford University's Office for Inclusion, Belonging and Intergroup Communication (IBIC) named an interest in increasing the office's ability to train, navigate, and support conflict resolution...


Implementing a P-3 Credential in California State Universities

Elena Elliott

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) is proposing a P-3 Specialist Teaching Credential that ensures that teachers are adequately prepared to provide high-quality instruction to California...


Life after POLS

POLS graduates are well prepared to lead in a wide range of roles and contexts. Alumni work in school and district settings, higher education, education philanthropies, corporate and educational recruiting, and government. Below are a few examples of positions held by POLS alumni.

Higher education

Assistant Dean of Students, Oberlin College
Native American Liaison, Stanford Undergraduate Admissions Office
Instructor, Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

K–12 leadership

Assistant Principal, Noble Network of Charter Schools
Literacy Coordinator, Harlem Children’s Zone
Academic Program Manager, Summit Public Schools

School networks, districts, government

Data Analyst, Boston Public Schools
Assistant Budget and Policy Analyst, State of Oregon
Legislative Assistant, United States Senate

Educational intermediaries and ed tech

Instructional Design Specialist, Coursera
Program Manager, Reading Partners
Education Analyst, Emerson Collective

The Graduate School of Education’s EdCareers office provides career education and counseling, job listings, career fairs and other resources to GSE students and alumni. 

Visit EdCareers

What you need to know

Admission requirements

To learn more about requirements for admission, please visit the Application Requirements page.

Financing your education

To learn more about the cost of the program and options for financial support, please visit Financing Your Master’s Degree on the admissions website.

Contact admissions

For admissions webinars and to connect with the admission office, see our  Connect and Visit page.

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