Minor in Urban Education
A core component of the College of Education’s Urban Learning Collaborative, the Urban Education Minor at Kean University is a 15-credit interdisciplinary program that cultivates a deep understanding of the dynamics shaping today’s urban school systems. Students explore how identity, inequality, and power influence educational experiences and outcomes, drawing on coursework from Urban Education and related disciplines. The minor reflects Kean’s mission of anchoring down in our local urban communities.
Emphasizing both critical consciousness and practical application, the minor equips students with theoretical, analytical, and research skills to understand—and challenge—the social and structural forces affecting urban schools. Open to all majors, this program prepares students for careers as educators, community workers, policymakers, advocates, and other professionals committed to advancing educational equity and dismantling racialized injustices. The final capstone course includes an action research project—done in partnership with Kean’s Entrepreneurial Education Initiatives, the Center for Africana Studies, and other community partners and stakeholders—to advance creative, grassroots change that centers local voices.
Program Requirements
NEW, starting fall 2026
15 credits total
9 required
6 electives
Coordinator: Tara Schwitzman-Gerst, EdD | tara.gerst@kean.edu
Affiliated faculty
“I look forward to the work that will come from this minor and its potential to bring together students, faculty, and staff committed to anchoring down in our local urban schools and communities. Education is a lens through which we can understand the way our society works—I hope prospective teachers and non-teachers alike will consider how this program can further their experience and education here at Kean.” - Tara Schwitzman-Gerst, Ed.D.