Education and Educational Services, Certificate

Education is a topic of widespread interest to UW–Madison students and is one of the hotly contested subjects in today's politics and society. The Education and Educational Services (EES) Certificate Program provides a cohesive set of courses for undergraduate students interested in the many aspects of education, but who choose not to major in education during their undergraduate degree.

Students interested in child development, neuroscience and the process of learning, or education-related policies, for example, may wish to complement their current major with this substantive program in education. The certificate also provides grounding and learning experiences that will increase access to careers in education. Students completing the certificate may be considering future plans to:

• Enter a post-baccalaureate teacher education program.
• Pursue a graduate program focused on educational services, including programs such as counseling psychology, school psychology, and rehabilitation psychology.
• Complete advanced work in educational psychology or educational administration.
• Begin a career in teaching and learning settings and practices outside the K–12 education system.

This 15-credit certificate program offers a variety of course options that can be customized to each student's area of interest. It is also available to individuals who have already completed a bachelor’s degree; see the Nondegree/Visiting Student Guide.

In addition to reading the information here, students may wish to consult the department's website or email the EES administrator.

Declaration Process

Students intending to pursue the Education and Educational Services Certificate should visit the School of Education's Certificate Programs page to complete the declaration form. The declaration for this certificate program can be submitted at any time during the calendar year.

Please note: Students completing a course of study designed to lead to teacher certification are not eligible to complete the EES certificate. This also includes School of Education degree students pursuing the education studies or communication sciences and disorders majors. Other students completing a major within the School of Education are limited to 6 credits of overlap between their major and the certificate; that is, no more than 6 credits of coursework used to satisfy requirements for a major within the School of Education may also be counted toward completion of the EES certificate.

Requirements of this 15-credit certificate program include both Foundation and Focus coursework. All coursework must be taken for a letter grade (not credit/no-credit or pass/fail) and students must earn at least a C grade in each course of the certificate. At least 12 credits of the certificate must be earned in residence at UW–Madison.

There is no formal prerequisite structure to the certificate, although students will generally be expected to take CURRIC 240 Critical Aspects of Teaching, Schooling, and Education first, followed by the two remaining Foundation courses and then the two Focus courses.

Foundation Courses, 9 credits

 Focus Course Work, 6 credits

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Students may also substitute up to 3 credits of independent study with faculty from the departments of Coun Psy, Curric, ELPA, Ed Pol, Ed Psych or RP&SE. Independent study work with faculty from other School of Education departments may be considered; contact an advisor in the School of Education Student Services office.

Undergraduate/Special Student Certificates

This certificate may be completed within the context of an undergraduate degree or as a Special student after an undergraduate degree has been awarded from any institution. The certificate may be completed in its entirety while enrolled as a Special student. Candidates are encouraged to contact the certificate coordinator to discuss course enrollment and the sequencing of certificate requirements. 

1. Understand how learning environments and pedagogical practices for students are grounded in concepts and interpretive frameworks provided by disciplines that study human development and learning. Understand both typical and atypical development in relation to education.
2. Understand basic cognitive, social, emotional, and biological bases of teaching and learning.
3. Understand how issues of race, class, gender, cultural, sexual orientation, immigrant status, language background, and disability status interact with various educational contexts to affect learning and its outcomes.
4. Understand how local, state, national, and global social and political contexts differentially affect schooling and its outcomes for students both typical and atypical development in relation to education.
5. Understand the multiple contexts in which education occurs.
6. Understand historical, political, and cultural influences on education and educational institutions.
7. Understand supportive services available to learners in educational contexts and institutions.
8. Be familiar with some of the issues and controversies surrounding the selection of concepts taught, the assumptions associated with content choices, tools of inquiry, and ways of reasoning.
9. Be an informed consumer of educational research and policy prescriptions.

Information about faculty, staff, and other contributors to the Department of Educational Psychology can be found on the department's website.