The world’s first School of Education and Social Policy is committed to helping people, places and institutions thrive.
School of Education and Social Policy (SESP) alumni are prepared for a wide range of careers in the for-profit, non-profit, and governmental sectors. Learn more about career pathways for our graduates.
Graduates are prepared to teach first through sixth grade. Elementary Teaching is also part of the accelerated master’s pathway, giving undergraduates the chance to work on their master's degree while earning their bachelor's degree.
An applied curriculum that provides a solid foundation for graduate work in education, students are drawn to social work, law, medicine, public policy, and counseling. Graduates also work in human resources, curriculum development, research, and teaching.
Prepares students for leadership roles in business, consulting, change management, financial services, instructional design, training, or organizational development jobs. Quantitative second majors or minors, such as data science or economics, are popular.
Graduates often work in the fields of business and consulting, education technology, instructional design, museum education, educational research, and curriculum design. Undergraduate students can combine learning sciences with computer science.
Students become secondary education classroom teachers in fifth through twelfth grade. This option is also part of the accelerated master’s pathway.
Students study issues related to the environment, education and health care. Graduates work in related fields, including public policy, government, advocacy, policy research and analysis, education, law-related fields, nonprofits, and business.
Alexandra Sims-Jones ('10), founder and CEO of APS & Associates
Think of it as a direction you're headed in. You can bounce around in that funnel but try to stay in that direction...I would tell my 20-year-old self to follow what excites you, what energizes you, and what gives you passion.”
—Alexandra Sims-Jones
Sims, who studied social policy, joined the Coro Fellowship Program after graduating from Northwestern. She went on to serve as state director for Missouri in President Obama’s 2012 campaign and later directed the country’s largest voter registration campaign, registering over 400,000 voters in four months as the founder and first executive director of Chicago-based Every Vote Counts. In 2016, Sims launched her public affairs firm, APS & Associates; she and her team have collaborated with partners across the country, including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, the Obama Foundation, Bally’s Casino and more. Honored by Crain's Chicago Business as one of the city's outstanding young leaders, she urges SESP students to view their careers not as a series of disconnected dots but rather as a funnel.
The School of Education and Social Policy’s much-loved practicum–a quarter long off-campus internship for juniors coupled with an academic seminar–has jump-started the careers of countless alumni. The program is offered year-round, and students can be remote or hybrid in US locations. Those who wish to study abroad can complete the practicum in another country. Students pursuing teaching gain classroom experience through their practicum and student teaching in their senior year.
Working for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) allowed me to take on several meaningful projects that affirmed my passion for transportation policy. In the future, I hope to support strong infrastructure across Colorado using the lessons I learned at CDOT.”
—Aimee Resnick, Social Policy Concentration (’25)
The two-year, six-credit program helps students understand the forces that affect communities and gives them a deeper grasp of how to work for positive change. Open to all Northwestern freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, the program blends community work with classroom learning, focusing on participatory policymaking, budgeting, and policy implementation for social change.
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Learn more about the career pathways of School of Education and Social Policy alumni in SESP Magazine. The magazine, published twice annually for alumni and friends of the School of Education and Social Policy, also highlights current SESP students and faculty.