Build Classrooms That Center Belonging and Curiosity.

Deepen your practice, challenge the status quo, and amplify your impact with a master’s degree from Bank Street.

At Bank Street, we help you turn your belief in the power of education into action that changes lives. Our graduate programs empower you create inclusive, dynamic classrooms, lead with vision, and advocate for every learner. Earning a Bank Street master’s degree means joining a lifelong community of responsive educators and leaders who are ready to ensure equitable learning and make all students feel seen and supported.

The world needs more compassionate, creative, and courageous educators and changemakers. Teaching can be a lifelong calling or a foundation for a range of meaningful careers in leadership, policy, academia, or non-profit organizations. This is your launchpad for a career that matters.

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Education That’s Personal. Teaching That’s Powerful.

Bank Street is more than a graduate school, it’s a supportive, lifelong network—with you at the center of it all.

Here, you’ll receive:

  • Opportunities to expand your practice and build on your undergraduate foundation
  • Personalized attention that builds solid relationships with peers and mentors
  • A mission-driven, human-centered approach to education that prepares you to lead classrooms where every student can thrive

Our approach includes:

  • Learning by doing
  • Finding your voice through reflection
  • Centering equity in how and what you teach

When you leave Bank Street, you’ll have more than just a degree. With small classes, personalized advising, and faculty who mentor you every step of the way, you’ll grow into the kind of educator the world needs. You’ll become part of a community of educators and leaders who lift each other up and, with Bank Street’s name and reputation behind you, you’ll stand out as you move forward in your career. 

Find Your Program.

For Careers in the Classroom:
For Careers Beyond the Classroom:

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How does field experience work?

    At Bank Street, you have the option of doing fieldwork as a student teacher, resident (dependent on program), or a working teacher. For student teaching, we will place you into different classrooms across age bands so that you get a feel for the experience across a range of developmental levels. For residencies, students are placed in one of our partner schools for which an interview is required.

    For those currently working as an associate, assistant, or head teacher, you are typically able to keep your job during your  fieldwork as long as it is within the age band and setting type of the master’s degree you’re getting. Bank Street is one of the few graduate programs that allows you to do this, and our Office of Career Services can offer support in finding these types of positions.

  • What kind of advice do you have for the application process?

    We take a holistic approach to the application and consider all of the materials you submit in our assessment. If you have references that can attest to your work with children in some capacity, an autobiography that gives us insight into your experiences, and can speak to these experiences in your admissions interview, you’re off to a good start! We also encourage you to reach out to us directly if you have clarifying questions about the application process or requirements.

  • How does certification work?

    Your master’s degree is just one element of the certification process, which also includes workshops, New York State tests, fingerprinting, and navigating the state’s application website. If you do not already hold NYS certification, once you graduate and meet the requirements for the certification application, you’ll receive your initial NYS certification, which lasts for five years. Within this five-year period, you will need to serve as a head/lead teacher for at least three years in order to turn your initial certification into a permanent professional certification. Professional certifications do not have an expiration date. Please note that not all programs at Bank Street lead to certification, so make sure you pursue the right program if you’re seeking to get certified!

  • What can my career look like after teaching for a few years?

    Teachers who have been in the classroom for a few years can provide coaching, mentorship, and model teaching to those new to the field. Your expertise in this work is important in helping shape the next generation of teachers. There are also opportunities in and out of classrooms that your foundation as a teacher can help you explore, such as:

    • Curriculum and instructional design
    • Professional development with adults
    • Work as a specialist (depending on your certification) to offer more individualized assistance in areas like literacy, special education, or ESL.
    • Research
    • Policy work
    • Educational consulting
    • Educational leadership (see Bank Street’s leadership programs)

    Our Office of Career Services can help you navigate the educational landscape.

TeachNY

Scholarship Opportunity Through TeachNY

Through our partner, TeachNY, you can access the perks below. To apply for a Teach NY scholarship, create an account. Once you have subscribed to TeachNY and have applied to Bank Street, submit your application fee reimbursement and apply for the scholarship.

  • 1-on-1 expert advice and group coaching sessions all about becoming a certified New York teacher
  • Custom tips, how-to guides, and resume templates for applying to Bank Street Graduate School of Education
  • $100 fee reimbursements when it comes time to apply
  • Exclusive scholarship and financial aid opportunities
  • Unique resources for future educators

Esther Gottesman, Bank Street Graduate School of Education 2018, Childhood General and Special Education
Meet our alumni
What I do now as a public school teacher comes very naturally from the studies I did at Bank Street. We use culturally responsive, place-based learning that includes investigations of the neighborhood and our school, reflecting and responding to the community.
Esther Gottesman - Childhood General and Special Education '18
Meet Esther Meet Our Alumni
Meet our alumni
When I have my interactions and interventions with patients and then I get a hug from a little one or a caregiver, that’s when I can see how I helped their experience here at the hospital. That’s what really inspires me to keep going and what and reminds me why I'm in the field that I'm in.
Marsha Moriah - Child Life '22
Meet Marsha Meet Our Alumni
Meet our alumni
If you feel this call to be a career changer, you weren't called by accident. You were called for a purpose. What you bring to the table adds to Bank Street’s value. Here, you can break ceilings.
Janai Gilkes - Childhood Special and General Education '20
Meet Janai Meet Our Alumni
Kiera Nemsick graduated from Bank Street in May 2023 and works as a second grade teacher in a general education classroom at PS 234—The Independence School in downtown Manhattan—a position she found through a Bank Street Career Fair
Meet our alumni
If I had to pick, I’d say one thing that Bank Street does really well is provide forums for discussion and community-building. I really valued the Conference Group that happened in coordination with our fieldwork experiences. A small group of classmates met once a week to share the highs and lows of our lives as teachers and graduate students.
Kiera Nemsick - Childhood Special Education '23
Meet Kiera Meet Our Alumni

Questions?

We’re here to help!
gradadmissions@bankstreet.edu
New York, NY 10025