New Certificate in Ed Finance Prepares Tomorrow’s Education Leaders

The McCourt School, in partnership with the Edunomics Lab, is pleased to offer a Certificate in Education Finance (CEF) – an interdisciplinary certification combining finance, economics and leadership with public policy and administration. The non-credit program will consist of 10 modules over a four-month period, beginning with a two-day, in-person intensive residency at Georgetown followed by bi-weekly modules, for a total of 40 contact hours.

A Cohort-based Strategy

This cohort-based program includes interactive classroom instruction, reading, self-reflection and hands-on practice that guides students through an examination of the financial and related resource allocation issues that are integral parts of public education policy in the United States.

Students will hear from leaders in the field of education finance and learn to think about resource allocation from a practical perspective. Additionally, students will gain familiarity with budgets, spending related policies and data sources for financial information, and wrestle with the challenges of productivity and tradeoffs.

“Finance influences every aspect of education policy and decision making,” said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab and lead designer of the program. “CEF students will build education ‘financial habits of mind’ developing and exercising their financial muscle in all critical thinking and strategy.”

Meet the Director

The Certificate program will be directed by Marguerite Roza, Ph.D., who also serves as the Director of the McCourt School Edunomics Lab and a Research Professor at Georgetown University.

Dr. Roza’s research focuses on quantitative policy analysis, particularly in the area of education finance. Her work has been published by Education Sector, the Brookings Institution, Public Budgeting and Finance, Education Next, and the Peabody Journal of Education.

She is also the author of the highly regarded education finance book, Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go? The Certificate program may add additional adjunct faculty to provide expertise in specific areas.

Sign up Today

Georgetown’s CEF program is the first of its kind to provide formal training that helps policymakers, school boards and education leaders digest financial data and leverage this knowledge to improve education. If you are excited about education policy, this is the program for you. Applications are due by January 10, 2018.

Learn more about the CEF program