About Peabody
Our Mission
With a genealogy dating to a one-room Nashville schoolhouse in 1785, Peabody College today is a world-class college of education and human development. Our mission is to enhance the human condition, with a particular focus on children’s learning and development. We strive to enhance the human condition by creating knowledge about learning and development in their social contexts, by translating discoveries into more effective practice and policy, and by preparing leaders who will generate positive change throughout the nation and the world. Peabody’s focus on learning differences has helped to define the college, as has a reputation for empirical rigor in educational neuroscience; child, family, and community development; special education; the learning sciences; and educational leadership and policy. Peabody is devoted to creating opportunity in an increasingly diverse society and to solving large societal problems.
Our Faculty
The Peabody faculty is an amazing collective of scholars working across social science and natural science disciplines at a breadth that is unusual for schools of education. Educators, psychologists, child development experts, sociologists, economists, political scientists, neuroscientists, philosophers and historians of education, and quantitative methodologists are all included. They share a national reputation for excellence and a focus on creating opportunities and improving lives, especially for underrepresented and underserved populations. Many faculty members engage prominently in public discourse around education issues and policies. Others edit journals in their disciplines, serve on expert panels, or lead professional associations. Peabody students develop collegial relationships with these scholars and find that they enjoy serving as mentors for academic and career success.
Learn more about our faculty and research.
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Academics and Enrollment
Transmitting knowledge to future generations of teachers, leaders, and scholars is among the most important things we do. Toward that end, the college offers 7 undergraduate majors, including human and organizational development, Vanderbilt’s second most popular major. Professional programs enroll students in 18 master of education or public policy (M.Ed. or M.P.P.) programs, and 3 doctor of education (Ed.D.) programs. Beginning in Fall 2017, two professional programs are offered online. Through the Vanderbilt Graduate School, Peabody offers 6 doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) programs, including the nation’s first interdisciplinary doctorate in educational neuroscience. Combined enrollment at Peabody exceeds 2,000 highly talented students, including more than 1,100 undergraduates.
With 97 percent of professional students finding employment within four months of graduation, the college takes a hands-on approach to career success and is a strategic partner with students from the very first day they set foot on campus.
Vanderbilt University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate degrees. Degree-granting institutions also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of Vanderbilt University may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC’s website (www.sacscoc.org).
Alumni
From networking opportunities and reunions to alumni recognition and activities, Peabody is your home for a lifetime. Its nearly 30,000 alumni share a lifelong commitment to creating positive change in schools; communities; higher education; and non-profit, for-profit, or governmental organizations. Read some of our alumni stories.
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University calls Nashville, Tennessee home — a thriving, intellectually stimulating city and a center for healthcare, higher education, business, and technology. With strong trans-institutional programs among its 10 schools as well as partnerships with neighboring institutions and the community, Vanderbilt’s focus on issues of wide-ranging significance generates collaborations across multiple fields, including a medicine. Vanderbilt is a world-class center for scholarly research, informed and creative teaching, and service to the community and society at large.