Education

Education
By Dave Tomar and Dr. James Barham
Updated:

If you are interested in pursuing a degree or finding a job in the field of education, everything you need is here. Find the best schools, career information, history of the discipline, influential people in the field, great books, and more.

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What Is education?

Education is among the most popular college degree programs both because it provides a clear pathway to a career in education, and because it is extremely versatile. Whether you wish to become a public school classroom teacher for grades K-12, teach at the post-secondary level, serve as an administrator or work for a private educational company, the education discipline is a strong starting point.

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The Best Colleges and Universities for Education Degrees

Best Education Major Research Universities

  1. Harvard University
  2. Columbia University
  3. Cornell University
  4. University of Michigan
  5. New York University

Go to The Best Education Research Universities

Best Education Major Liberal Arts Colleges

  1. Swarthmore College
  2. Wellesley College
  3. Bowdoin College
  4. Middleberry University
  5. Colgate College

Go to The Best Education Liberal Arts Colleges

Best Education Major Online Colleges

  1. University of Georgia
  2. University of Missouri
  3. Arizona State University
  4. University of South Carolina
  5. University of Arkansas

Go to The Best Education Online Colleges

To view the entire list of top education schools, including schools offering online degrees and a breakdown of the best education colleges and universities in your state, visit our look at the Best Colleges and Universities for Education Degrees.

For a dynamic, real-time listing of the most influential education schools in the world, use our Custom College Ranking.

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The Best Online Education Degrees

Education is an extremely varied discipline. This is because there are countless subjects that you could specialize in, numerous levels of education where you could apply your skills, and many different learning environments where you might choose to build a career. Moreover, education extends well beyond classroom instruction to include roles in administration, educational technology, school counseling, and so much more. Fortunately, there are also reputable, fully-accredited online education degrees to correspond with nearly every area of concentration:

A degree in education can help to future-proof your career and prepare you to compete for jobs in tomorrow’s workplace. An education degree is versatile, has a projected growth rate of at least 10% between 2020 and 2030, and is either complimentary to the rise of automation, or represents functions that can only be performed by human beings.

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Education Degrees

What Will I Study as an Education Major?

Most education students will take courses on foundational topics such instructional planning, curriculum design, and early childhood development. Depending on your concentration, you may also study subjects like pedagogy, counseling, educational leadership, project-based learning, literacy education, and more.

What Can I Do With a Degree in Education?

Naturally, majoring in education is the appropriate starting point if you wish to teach in the classroom. But it’s also a good discipline if you hope to become a guidance counselor, high school principal, or college professor, as well as a good place to launch a career in educational technology, online teaching, college consulting, and much more.

Take a look at our roundup of all college subjects. If you’re a student who struggles with what to study in college, this comprehensive resource is perfect to help you nail down a college major.

How To Get a Degree in Education

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Who are the top education influencers in history?

The following are the top education influencers in history (4000 BC-2020) according to our machine-powered Influence Rankings, which are drawn from a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia/data, Crossref, and an ever-growing body of data.

  1. John Dewey was a philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer, widely recognized as one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century.
  2. Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator, philosopher, and leading advocate of critical pedagogy who is best known for his influential work Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
  3. Booker T. Washington was an American educator, author, orator, an adviser to several presidents of the United States, and between 1890 and 1915, a major leadership figure from the last generation of black American leaders born into slavery.
  4. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and which is still in use today in many public and private schools globally.
  5. Malcolm Knowles was an American adult educator, famous for the adoption of the theory of andragogy, and a fundamental influence in the development of the Humanist Learning Theory.
  6. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach, which espoused the motto– “Learning by head, hand and heart.”
  7. Friedrich Fröbel was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education (and created the concept of kindergarten) based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities.
  8. William Heard Kilpatrick was an American pedagogue and a pupil, a colleague and a successor of John Dewey, as well as a major figure in the progressive education movement of the early 20th century.
  9. Robert Maynard Hutchins was an American educational philosopher, president and chancellor of the University of Chicago, earlier dean of Yale Law School, and an influential proponent of secular perennialism.
  10. Jerome Bruner was an American psychologist who made significant contributions to human cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory in educational psychology.

Now that you have a bird’s eye view of some of the most influential education leaders of all time, explore these pioneers and others in more depth

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Who are the top education influencers today?

The following are the top education influencers in the field today (2010-2022) according to our machine-powered Influence Rankings, which are drawn from a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia/data, Crossref, and an ever-growing body of data.

  1. Malala Yousafzai often referred to mononymously as Malala, is a Pakistani activist for female education and the world’s youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
  2. Arne Duncan is an American educator and was a United States Secretary of Education from January 2009 through January 2016, when he oversaw nationwide adoption of Common Core Standards.
  3. Chris Ulmer is an American disability-rights advocate, former special education teacher, YouTuber, and founder of the non-profit Special Books by Special Kids.
  4. Sal Khan is an American educator and the founder of Khan Academy, a free online education platform and an organization with which he has produced over 6,500 video lessons teaching a wide spectrum of academic subjects, originally focusing on mathematics and sciences.
  5. Lawrence Summers is an American economist, former Vice President of Development Economics and Chief Economist of the World Bank , senior U.S. Treasury Department official throughout President Clinton’s administration, and former director of the National Economic Council for President Obama.
  6. Michael Apple is a well-known writer and theorist in education, having authored numerous books and other works on education, culture, power, and politics, including the highly consequential texts, Ideology and Curriculum and Official Knowledge.
  7. Ashish Nanda was Director of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad as well as a Distinguished Fellow at the Harvard Law School Executive Education.
  8. Aaron Doering is an American explorer, author, public speaker, and adventure learning pioneer, as well as a full professor at the University of Minnesota until 2019, and the director and co-founder of the Learning Technologies Media Lab.
  9. Jonathan Kozol is an American writer, progressive activist, and educator, best known for his books on public education in the United States.
  10. Jerome Bruner was an American psychologist who made significant contributions to human cognitive psychology and cognitive learning theory in educational psychology.

Learn about other top education influencers.

Interviews with Top Thinkers in Education

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Controversial Topics in Education

Few things bring out the passion of individuals like their children. As a result, few things generate heated debate like education. Numerous competing philosophies, priorities, values and strategies often come into direct confrontation with one another at school board meetings, in political debates, and even in the courts. The following controversial topics frequently generate intense public debate within the educational discipline..

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Feature Topics in Education

Education is a dynamic field where new findings, achievements and innovations continue to have a profound impact on the real world. Our features emphasize the individuals and innovations driving the education discipline forward today.

We also offer comprehensive Career Guidance for students at every stage in the educational journey.

Or get tips on studying, student life, and much more with a look at our Student Resources.

Do you have a question about this topic? Ask it here