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College of Education
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Strategic Plan

In Fall 2023, NC State’s College of Education launched a new strategic plan that will guide our college’s research, teaching, and service endeavors for years to come as we strive to live out our land-grant mission to advance the greater good for all learners. With the Strategic Plan: 2023-2030 as our compass, we will continue to lead the way in making a transformative impact on North Carolina and beyond, endeavoring every day to ensure all learners have the opportunity to reach their fullest potential.

Mission

The College of Education is a voice of innovation in teaching and lifelong learning. We prepare professionals who educate and lead. Our inquiry and practice reflect integrity, a commitment to human dignity and the value of different thoughts and experiences in a global community.

Vision

We lead the transformation of education. We ensure access and success for each and every learner in North Carolina and beyond. We produce innovative educational research. We solve the pressing challenges of education.

Our Strategic Focus Areas

Download PDF of full plan

Drawing on NC State’s Wolfpack 2030: Powering the Extraordinary strategic plan, the College of Education has developed a strategic foundation centered on focus areas: innovation, interdisciplinarity, interconnectedness and impact.

Innovation

We leverage cutting-edge research and innovative educational practices to create transformative experiences for learners and develop new educational tools.

Interdisciplinarity

We commit to inquiry and partnership across disciplines and understand that the most pressing educational questions and challenges benefit from interdisciplinary approaches.

Interconnectedness

We foster interconnectedness and cultivate a culture where all our community members’ perspectives and voices are valued and supported, championing human dignity and justice through our work.

Impact

We leverage expertise and networks to generate new knowledge, enhance learner experiences, improve communities and advance education as a field of research and practice.

strategic plan news and updates

FLIP-STEM Interdisciplinary Hub Centers Student Experience, Agency through Rural Workshops

Over the past year, the members of the Fostering Learning, Identity, and Participation within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (FLIP-STEM) interdisciplinary hub have seen firsthand the way middle school students thrive when given agency over their learning.

Assistant Professor of Learning, Design and Technology Ela Castellanos-Reyes Wins College of Education’s 2025 Early Career Faculty Strategic Excellence Award

Assistant Professor of Learning, Design and Technology Ela Castellanos-Reyes has been selected as the 2025 recipient of NC State College of Education’s Faculty Strategic Excellence Award.

College of Education tied No. 27 in the nation in U.S. News' Best Education Schools

NC State’s College of Education Tied #1 in N.C., #27 in U.S. News’ 2025 Best Education Schools Rankings

NC State’s College of Education is tied at No. 1 in North Carolina and No. 27 in the nation in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Graduate Schools:…

A research powerhouse grounded in its land-grant mission, NC State’s College of Education prepares extraordinary educators and ensures access and success for every learner in North Carolina and beyond.

#1

ranked College of Education in N.C. (U.S. News’ 2025 Best Education Schools)

#27

ranked College of Education in the nation (U.S. News’ 2025 Best Education Schools)

#60

ranked in education and educational research in the world (U.S. News’ 2024 Best Global Universities)

Our Strategic Plan: 2023-2030 provides the strategic foundation that will better position us to live out our land-grant mission to meet the educational needs of learners, educators and leaders across North Carolina and beyond.

Paola Sztajn

Paola Sztajn

Dean, NC State College of Education