About

Teachers College was the first graduate institution in 1899 to develop a program that is now called the International and Comparative Education program. Building on that historical legacy, program faculty have continued to drive the development of the field, making it an academic discipline in its own right. Teachers College faculty co-founded our esteemed professional association--the Comparative and International Education Society--in the 1950s and have continued to play major leadership roles, with Professors Hank Levin, Gita Steiner-Khamsi, and Regina Cortina all serving as CIES Presidents in the past decade.

The Program prepares students to become practitioners, policymakers, and scholars in the field of international and comparative education. Our teaching framework emphasizes theories (e.g., globalization, critical, and Southern theories), content knowledge specific to our concentrations and related sub-fields, research methods (quantitative analysis, qualitative inquiry, and mixed-methods), and applied skills (e.g., program design, policy analysis, sector review, strategic planning, curriculum development, capacity building, program monitoring and evaluation).

Our graduates work across national and international contexts in different institutions and initiatives, including governments, donor agencies, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, higher education institutions, private organizations, community organizations, as well as with families, and social movements.

Our Master’s students typically aim to work in support of educational practices and programs upon graduation, while our doctoral students are poised to enter academia and/or assume leadership positions in various organizations as they become international and comparative educators.