M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (Online & In-Person)

We are now accepting applications for our Fall 2025 cohort. Please take a moment to review our application guide for more information about our Admissions process, and submit your materials by our priority deadline on December 1.

Applicants interested in pursuing the optional Preliminary Administrative Services Credential (PASC) offered through our partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) should refer to the admissions process here. Please note the PASC admissions process is separate from admissions to the GSE. Join our mailing list for more information!

All Candidates:

• For K-12 educators and leaders, at least three years prior teaching experience is strongly preferred
• For educators and leaders working in the education ecosystem (non-profits, start-ups, etc.), at least three years prior work experience designing and facilitating learning is strongly preferred
• Earned BA/BS from a regionally accredited university with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0. Applicants with a GPA below 3.0 are encouraged to include an explanation of their academic qualifications within the initial application form.
• The GRE is not required for admission to the HTH GSE

Additional Requirements for International Candidates:

• If you’ve earned your degree outside of the United States., the transcript must be evaluated for equivalence by World Education Services, Inc. (WES) or Educational Perspectives with a Course-by-Course Report.
• The program requires a strong command of written and spoken English prior to entry. Applicants whose primary language is not English are required to achieve the following scores on either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or The International English Language Testing System (IELTS):
  • TOEFL minimum scores: 550 on the paper-based version, or 216 on the computer-based version, or 80 on the internet-based version (iBT). TOEFL scores must be no more than five years old at the time of application. You can request that your scores be sent directly to the institution through ETS by entering the school code B433 when requesting your test scores.
  • IELTS minimum score of 7.5 on the Academic Module with individual section scores (e.g., reading, writing, listening and speaking) of at least 7.5.
  • If you attended a four-year undergraduate institution in the U.S. and successfully earned your Bachelor’s degree, the language testing requirements will be waived.
• If applying as an international student, the HTH GSE is approved to offer F-1 visas. You can find more information about studying in the U.S. and applying for the F-1 visa here.

Program Tuition: $20,000 (The tuition is the same across all three pathways)

Available Aid

Fellowships:

Diversity Fellowships are available to all students. For our purposes, diversity includes, but is not limited to, culture, socioeconomic background, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, and life experience.

School Teams Scholarship

As part of our efforts to catalyze and sustain change in schools, we are excited to offer discounted tuition to teams comprised of at least two aspiring leaders from the same organizational context. Scholarships between $1,000-$3,000 will be awarded to each candidate.

Federal Student Aid:

EdL students are eligible to apply for federal financial aid. Aid consists primarily of William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans (Unsubsidized), Federal Graduate PLUS Loans, and Federal Work Study. Degree-seeking graduate students are eligible for federal financial aid if they:

• are enrolled in 4.5 or more units per term,
• meet the HTH GSE’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy,
• are in good standing with prior federal loans,
• are citizens of the United States (or eligible non-citizens)

Please review the Financial Aid FAQ’s for more information. To apply for aid, follow Steps to Apply for Financial Aid.

Living Stipends

Students enrolled in the 10-month residency pathway may receive an additional living stipend for the duration of the program pending confirmation of school site placement. Payments will be disbursed according to the three academic terms with funding released for Fall Term: mid-August, Winter Term: early December, and Spring term: early March.

Core Courses

Throughout your first year, you and your cohort will participate in seven Core courses that cover competencies we believe all educators should have.

• Immersion Week: Core Values and Foundations: Delivered in person at the GSE in San Diego, this course prepares candidates to lead for deeper learning by introducing seminal topics, foundational critical pedagogy texts, and project based learning as we build a trusting and connected community of learners.
• Leading for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: In this course, students develop as leaders for DEI through action and reflection at the personal, interpersonal, institutional and structural levels.
• Cultivating Conditions for Deeper Learning: This course builds the capacity of school leaders to design for transformational learning environments by cultivating the conditions that lead to Deeper Learning.
• Facilitating Adult Learning: This course examines the levers of environmental architecture, professional learning, and one-on-one coaching that school leaders utilize to support adult learning.
• Positive School Culture/School Law: In this course, students examine how educational and constitutional law intersect with the development of positive school culture.
• Financial Resourcing for Equity: This course provides students with an understanding of education funding and explores how leaders leverage budgets for equity by collaborating with diverse stakeholders.
• Leading Innovative Schools: This course interrogates the conditions of “innovation,” the future of education, and the change leadership required to create, redesign, and lead transformational learning.

CAPSTONE

The “Inquiry to Practice” Master’s Capstone series spans three terms (Fall, Winter and Spring). In this series, students lead change by applying the principles and tools of human centered design and continuous improvement to collaborate with colleagues, students and families to disrupt predictable patterns of success and failure, and meaningfully and measurably improve teaching and learning.

LEADERSHIP COURSES

Examined Leadership: The central focus of “Examined Leadership” is to support you in your continued development towards deepening self-awareness, furthering the ownership of the self, and activating courageous leadership. This course is designed with the guiding principle that leaders must engage in a quest toward a more critical view of themselves and the world and should include themselves in the “change equation.”

Culture, Conflict and Conversations: This course is designed to support candidates in developing and deepening their practice as antiracist educators working in culturally and linguistically diverse learning environments. Candidates build their capacity in culture building, conflict comprehension, and engaging in courageous conversations.

Leadership for School Change (Residency Program Only): This course supports Residents’ leadership development as they explore what it means to be an effective leader and analyze the intersection of theory and practice at their High Tech High School site. The residency provides a disruptive experience for reimagining school– ideas for inspiration and iteration, not replication. Residents will have ample opportunity to observe, practice and reflect on effective leadership by engaging in three Leadership projects over the course of the year (one per term).

San Diego County Office of Education

Candidates can complete their Preliminary Administrative Services Credential through our partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education by adding an additional course of study (11 Saturdays) to the EdL program. Please note the PASC admissions process is separate from admissions to the GSE. Contact us at gseadmissions@hightechhigh.org for more information.