Build the skills needed to advance your career in international education with a part-time, hybrid certificate program.

At a Glance

For programs beginning in 2023

Credits

19

Priority deadline

January 31, rolling thereafter

Final Deadline

April 15

I-20 Deadline for Student Visas

March 1

Duration

1 Year

Instructional Sites

United States

Critical Global Issue of Study

Education & Social Change

Education & Social Change Icon

Contact a Graduate Ambassador

APPLY NOW Meet with an Advisor

Please note that SIT will make every effort to maintain its programs as described. To respond to emergent situations, like COVID-19, however, SIT may have to change or cancel programs.

WHY A GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION?

Intercultural, international-based education connects and engages communities as it values differences, confronts inequality, and recognizes common struggles. SIT’s programs in international education develop reflective educational leaders who are able to contribute to these processes by opening the world to new generations, advocating for local agency and intercultural communication, and supporting transformative settings where self-empowerment and human potential can flourish.

SIT created the first master’s degree in international education two decades ago and today offers this one-year graduate certificate program to busy full-time and part-time professionals. The program begins with one short, intensive summer residency, which is followed by one year of carefully developed online coursework.

In this 18-credit program, you will develop expertise in exchange management, community education, and nonprofit and volunteer program management. Popular with international education professionals who have a master’s degree in another field and are looking to increase their understanding of international education, as well as individuals seeking to build on their careers in a low-residency format, this program requires 10 to 15 hours a week of coursework.

Start with a two-week summer residency on our beautiful Vermont campus, where you will meet your cohort and faculty advisor, begin your coursework, and receive an introduction to SIT’s reflective practice — our institution’s intellectual signature — a structured approach to learning that lets you apply coursework to your ongoing professional activity for credit.

For the remainder of the summer and into the following spring, you will study online alongside your advisor and cohort, examining the historical, theoretical, and social foundations of the international education field; design a variety of educational programs; develop and conduct field-based research projects; and gain a deeper understanding of advising, exchange management, non-formal and community education, volunteer program management, conflict transformation, international education development, humanitarian service, and social justice education. You also have the option of taking an independent study or other elective, or transferring up to six credits from another institution, to advance your career objectives.

Finish the program with a closing project that will be shared virtually with your cohort.

Built on SIT’s powerful experiential learning model, this program prepares you to excel in the field of international education, while continuing to live and work in your job and community.

Career Paths

Students who have graduated with this certificate work in careers such as the following, among others.

  • Study abroad advisor

  • Education consultant

  • University professor, assistant, or associate professor

  • U.S. embassy education specialist

  • Program designer

  • Exchange program manager

  • Youth leadershio program administrator

  • Community educator

  • Admissions director

  • Refugee resettlement officer

  • International programs admissions

Visit the SIT blog to read more about SIT Graduate Institute alumni careers.

Program Sites

PROGRAM SITE

Summer residency and capstone presentation typically take place on Vermont campus, or online virtually. 

BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT

Vermont is at the forefront of sustainability, education, and regeneration. New England is a haven for start-ups, transition towns, community-owned forests, artisanal food and beverage companies, sustainable farming, eco-architecture, green energy, and many environmental and social justice organizations. SIT’s beautiful southern Vermont campus offers woodland trails, hiking, running, and cycling, as well as a private library, study rooms with mountain views, and an entertainment space where students often gather at the end of the day to socialize. You will also be a few miles from downtown Brattleboro, which offers an array of shops, restaurants, and eateries. 

Please note that in order to take advantage of dynamic learning opportunities, program excursions may occasionally vary.

Academics

Program Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will be able to:

Knowledge

  • Understand and articulate how the historical context and social, political, economic, and cultural forces shape education around the world.
  • Articulate critical understanding of education systems around the world with emphasis on social justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of influential theories in the international education field.
  • Understand the perspectives, relationships, roles, and influences of the stakeholders in the international education field.
  • Articulate how power, privilege, and oppression mediate educational practices around the world.
  • Articulate how international education policy is developed and implemented at the institutional, local, state, regional, national, and international levels.

Skills

  • Apply fundamental research skills including conceptualizing, designing, conducting, and presenting original research in the international education field.
  • Design, deliver, and evaluate international education programs (including proposal preparation, needs assessment, curriculum design, budgeting, human resource management, health and safety, crisis management, marketing, recruitment, and evaluation).
  • Create and implement international education-related content through writing, facilitation, and public speaking.

Attitudes

  • Promote equity, inclusion, diversity, and social justice in education.
  • Uphold high ethical standards and critical reflexivity in all aspects of one’s professional work.
  • Value reciprocity in knowledge- and skills-sharing.

Read more about Program Learning Outcomes.



Coursework

With SIT’s experiential curriculum, you’ll learn how to put theory into practice. In addition to core courses, a broad range of elective choices let you focus on courses that will help you meet your career goals. Our part-time, hybrid format allows you to complete most of your coursework for the international education certificate online so you can stay in your job and community.


Please expand the sections below to see detailed course information.


This is SIT

  • We value active togetherness, reciprocity, and respect as the essential ingredients for building a sustainable community.
  • With open minds, empathy, and courage, we facilitate intercultural understanding and respect for the commonalities and differences between people.
  • We champion social inclusion & justice in all that we are and all that we do, from ensuring our community and our programs amplify the voices, agency, and dignity of all people to deliberately instilling the principles and practices of inclusion in all of our work.
  • We are committed to human and environmental well-being through sustainability and contributing to a better world for all living and future generations.

Core coursework (14 Credits):

Assignments typically include readings, electronic group work, electronic postings, papers, and projects. Through the coursework component, students acquire critical theoretical knowledge and new professional competencies. The following courses are required: 

  • Foundations in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management  
  • Practitioner Inquiry  
  • Theory, Practice, and Policy of International Education  
  • International Education Program Planning and Design
  • Electives (Two credits minimum):  
    • Students can satisfy the program’s elective requirement in a number of ways, including by attending SIT courses offered in Vermont, participating in field courses offered around the world (most recently in Spain, Mexico, and Nepal), or pursuing independent study. Students can also choose to take a course at a local institution and transfer the credit to SIT. Please note that in this situation, the course must be at the graduate level and the institution must be accredited.

Reflective practice (4 Credits):

Since students in the program are already practicing professionals in the field, Reflective Practice is a structured approach for them to apply learning from their coursework with ongoing professional activity. Students receive course credit for documenting the integration of their knowledge and skills in a professional context while remaining engaged with faculty and other students. 

Faculty & Staff

International Education

Sora Friedman, PhD
Professor, Doctorate in Global Education (EdD, Part-Time Hybrid) • Professor and Chair, MA in International Education (Full-Time Global) • Professor and Chair, MA in International Education (Part-Time Hybrid) • Chair, MA in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management (Part-Time Hybrid)
Alla Korzh, EdD
Program Chair, Doctorate in Global Education (EdD, Part-Time Hybrid) • Associate Professor, MA in International Education (Full-Time Global)
Melissa Whatley, PhD
Assistant Professor , Doctorate in Global Education (EdD, Part-Time Hybrid) • Assistant Professor, MA in International Education (Part-Time Hybrid) • Assistant Professor, MA in International Education (Full-Time Global)
Roberto Villaseca, PhD Candidate
Co-Chair, MA in International Education (Full-Time Global)
Bruce W. Dayton, PhD
Program Chair, MA in Diplomacy and International Relations (Full-Time Global) • Director, Certificate in Conflict Transformation Across Cultures (CONTACT)
David Shallenberger, PhD
Affiliated Faculty, MA in International Education (Full-Time Global) • Affiliated Faculty, Doctorate in Global Education (EdD, Part-Time Hybrid)

Discover the Possibilities