The Designated Emphasis in Education enables doctoral students in other departments to pursue interests in education and obtain formal certification of competence in the field of education. Most Education Department Ph.D. courses are offered every other year; the Education Department welcomes D.E. students from other departments to take courses in education. Students should work closely with their education adviser to develop a plan for taking the coursework in a timely fashion.

Education is an institutional field in which scholars from a wide variety of disciplines—including sociology, psychology, politics, economics, mathematics and science—have scholarly interests. A Designated Emphasis in Education enables graduate students from other departments to ground their work in theory and research on important issues in education.