The Hertie School is a German private independent graduate school located in Berlin's Friedrichstraße. It has a right to confer master's and doctoral degrees. Half of the students in the Hertie School come from abroad (with more than 95 countries represented among alumni and currently enrolled students), and the working language is English.

Predominantly, Hertie School's students have backgrounds in law, economics, political science and international relations and pursue a Master of Public Policy or Master of International Affairs degree. The school offers its students the opportunity to complete a "professional year" at a multinational corporation, government ministry or an international organization. In addition to this possibility, research collaboration with faculty is encouraged. The Hertie School also offers an Executive Masters of Public Administration and will, as of September 2021, welcome its first cohort for the newly established Master of Data Science for Public Policy programme.

Students can pursue study abroad opportunities at one of the Hertie School's nearly 30 academic partners worldwide.

The research focus of the Hertie School, which has existed since its founding, lies in the analysis of the conditions, structures and dynamics of governance.

The Hertie School has established five research centres (Centres of Competence) that focus on key governance challenges: the Centre for International Security, the Centre for Digital Governance, the Centre for Fundamental Rights, the Jacques Delors Centre and the Centre for Sustainability (from 2021). Additionally, the School’s Data Science Lab leverages research in data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle major societal problems.