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Certificate in Education Finance

Certificate in Education Finance

What is Georgetown's Certificate in Ed Finance?

CEF participants holding up Reasonable and Less Comfortable postcards

Financial and resource allocation issues influence all aspects of U.S. public education policy yet are often not fully understood.

This one-of-a-kind Certificate in Education Finance (CEF) from Georgetown University equips participants with the practical skills they need in strategic fiscal management, finance policy analysis, and financial leadership to deploy resources in ways that do the most for students.

Dates and locations for upcoming opportunities are below.

Here are our 2025 cohorts:

June 10-11 in Kansas City, MO

In partnership with Aligned
at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center

 

 

Sept. 17-18 in Washington, DC

At the Georgetown University Capitol Campus

The CEF is an interdisciplinary certification combining finance, economics and leadership with public policy and administration.

Participants learn to:

  • Identify common (but often ill-understood) cost drivers in education.
  • Analyze how policy affects equity and resource use.
    Effectively consume and use education finance information.
  • Strategically allocate resources to reach desired outcomes and avoid unintended consequences that can negatively impact students, schools, and communities.
  • Grapple with productivity and financial tradeoffs in an environment of finite education dollars.
  • Communicate finance strategy and decisions to myriad audiences.


Upon successful program completion, participants earn a Certificate in Education Finance from Georgetown University. Participants can also earn 3.0 CEUs, 36 CPEs, and/or 30 PDCs.

Woman at CEF engaging with others at table
The program targets, but is not limited to, education policymakers; central office leadership; campus and network leaders; analyst and graduate students; grant makers and non-profit leaders. No prerequisites or advance preparation required.

The three-month program is designed for working professionals.

Participants attend a two-day, in-person, group live session with six follow-up modules of group internet-based interactive virtual learning (each 2-3 hours).

Registration $3,500

Elab-U

ELabU is a collection of education finance instructional modules designed to provide the hands-on finance skills education practitioners and policy makers need to make strategic financial decisions and tradeoffs on behalf of students. It is not a scripted curriculum.

Modules include options for how to deliver the content (or relevant components of it) as it makes sense for individual educational and training contexts.

CEF Cohort & Alumni Resources

Registered participants and alumni can access session presentations, worksheets, and recordings of virtual sessions via their cohort’s Box folder. Our Education Director, Jordan Tollefson has provided the login information via email.

Need it re-sent? Email ELabCEF@georgetown.edu and we’ll get you connected.

Woman at CEF engaging with others at table

Other Trainings by Edunomics Lab

Interested in a customized cohort or training for your team, or for a specific date or locale?
Please direct inquiries to Jordan.Tollefson@georgetown.edu.

Visit our Workshops page to learn about upcoming opportunities.

Earn Your Certificate in Ed Finance

2025 Cohorts: June 10-11 in Kansas City, MO – OR –  Sept. 17-18 in Washington, DC

Upcoming Events

Certificate in Ed Finance

Register Here

District Finance Network Meeting

Virtual

Monthly

This collaborative group meets monthly to explore current research and troubleshoot common challenges. We focus on student-based allocation formulas, fiscal transparency, and strategic financial decision-making. To learn more about the network, email Jessica Swanson at edunomics@georgetown.edu.

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