Bernstein served as the president of her freshman class, and she was a member of Vassar Debate Club, the Student Judicial Committee, and the Young Democrats.
[4] She pursued master's degree studies in history at Columbia University on a Danforth Scholarship, which is awarded to students "with passion for helping others".
[5] After obtaining her master's degree in 1970, Bernstein started teaching at Staten Island Community College, and in 1974 got a job at the federal Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education in Washington, D.C.
Bernstein worked at the Ford Foundation until 2010, with the exception of two years from 1990 to 1992, when she took a short leave in order to become an Associate Dean at Princeton.
[2] She sponsored research that informed policy and practice in sexuality such as reproductive health, youth development, and LGBT concerns, which were controversial at that time, as well as pioneering work on the social role of religion in US society.