There are two tracks at the Master's level of the ICE concentration: International Comparative Education (ICE) and International Education Policy Analysis (IEPA). The ICE and IEPA MA programs are run jointly and concurrently in the Graduate School of Education. The Master's ICE/IEPA program provides an interdisciplinary overview of the major theoretical and empirical issues in education, development, and policy, together with an opportunity for students to pursue a limited amount of specialized course work and reading in their areas of professional interests.
The admissions process does not distinguish between programs by setting quotas or limits for each program. In fact, students have the option, once they enter the program, to switch from one program to the other depending on how their interests evolve.
An integral part of this program is the MA paper, which familiarizes students with trends, methods, and research findings in their areas of specialization. Students in IEPA are required to have a policy perspective in their MA paper, and, if appropriate, policy recommendations stemming from one's findings.
Information on program requirements and required and other courses may be found in the Master’s Handbook.
Work on the master’s paper begins the summer prior to students’ arrival on campus when students are provided with a summer reading packet comprised of articles written by core ICE faculty, recommendations for developing ideas for their projects, and guidelines for their first writing exercise – a short write-up on two potential paper topics. Pre-proposals are written in Autumn quarter. Students conduct pilot studies and complete proposals by the end of Winter quarter. By the end of Spring quarter, students complete first drafts, which they then workshop together in order to produce final papers by the end of July.
More details about the ICE/IEPA MA program may be found on this FAQs and on this Recorded Webinar.
Prof. Christine Min Wotipka is director of the ICE and IEPA MA program.
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