##### Educational Programs
###### Cato’s Commitment to the Next Generation
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Explore a dynamic online learning platform designed to teach the ideas of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. Engage with core concepts through immersive lessons that make learning stick. Converse with historical guides like Socrates and Bastiat to deepen your understanding. Test your knowledge with challenging quizzes that explore and reinforce key ideas.
[Start Learning](https://www.cato.courses)
## Our Mission
Cato’s educational programs invite students and young professionals to look beyond headlines, slogans, and conventional wisdom to understand public policy at its roots. By encouraging deeper inquiry into political philosophy, economic theory, and the real-world consequences of government action, Cato helps participants explore not just what institutions do, but why—and how those choices shape our society.
Through an array of programs and resources, Cato equips participants with the intellectual tools, practical experience, and community needed to develop independent judgment, challenge prevailing assumptions, and carry the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace into careers across academia, policy, media, business, and advocacy.
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#### Student Briefings
## Student Briefings
The Cato Institute welcomes visits from college classes, internship programs, and other groups. These “Briefings” offer groups of all backgrounds and perspectives an unrivaled opportunity to learn more about the world of public policy, the ideas that shape it, and to hear from some of the country’s foremost scholars on a wide range of policy disciplines.
[Learn More](/student-programs/student-briefings)
#### Cato University
## Cato University
Cato University is the Cato Institute’s premier educational event series for college and graduate students. Each program explores classical liberal philosophy as a foundation for considering current policy issues. While the topics for each Cato University program vary, the goal remains to bring together outstanding faculty and participants who share a commitment to liberty and learning.
[Learn More](/student-programs/cato-university)
#### Internship Program
## Internship Program
Cato’s prestigious internship program offers interns the opportunity to develop hands-on research experience while learning professional skills and building their professional network.With competitive compensation, Cato provides interns with a rich education in the fundamentals of public policy through professional development, research opportunities, and the chance to work with leading scholars. Cato interns gain a transformative understanding of the public policy landscape that leaves a lasting impression on their professional futures.
[Learn More](/internships)
#### Research Associate Program
## Research Associate Program
The Cato Institute’s Research Associate Program is a two-year term position in which research associates provide support to Cato’s policy scholars while participating in an extensive professional development and mentoring program.
[Learn More](/research-associate)
- Student Briefings
- Cato University
- Internship Program
- Research Associate Program
## Student Briefings
The Cato Institute welcomes visits from college classes, internship programs, and other groups. These “Briefings” offer groups of all backgrounds and perspectives an unrivaled opportunity to learn more about the world of public policy, the ideas that shape it, and to hear from some of the country’s foremost scholars on a wide range of policy disciplines.
[Learn More](/student-programs/student-briefings)
## Cato University
Cato University is the Cato Institute’s premier educational event series for college and graduate students. Each program explores classical liberal philosophy as a foundation for considering current policy issues. While the topics for each Cato University program vary, the goal remains to bring together outstanding faculty and participants who share a commitment to liberty and learning.
[Learn More](/student-programs/cato-university)
## Internship Program
Cato’s prestigious internship program offers interns the opportunity to develop hands-on research experience while learning professional skills and building their professional network.With competitive compensation, Cato provides interns with a rich education in the fundamentals of public policy through professional development, research opportunities, and the chance to work with leading scholars. Cato interns gain a transformative understanding of the public policy landscape that leaves a lasting impression on their professional futures.
[Learn More](/internships)
## Research Associate Program
The Cato Institute’s Research Associate Program is a two-year term position in which research associates provide support to Cato’s policy scholars while participating in an extensive professional development and mentoring program.
[Learn More](/research-associate)
#### Additional Resources
##### CATO HOME STUDY COURSE
When was the last time you were truly energized by ideas? Cato’s self‐paced, home study program enables you to spend time with brilliant minds wherever and whenever you have an opportunity to listen and think.
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