[2] Koed graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1983 and received a bachelor's in English.
She went on to earn her master's and PhD in history, also from University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1991 and 1999 respectively, after beginning her career as a technical writer.
[3][4][5] While pursuing her PhD, Koed studied with Otis L. Graham Jr. and Robert Kelley at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
[6] She later went on to teach American History at the University of California, Santa Barbara before joining the Senate Historical Office in 1998.
[3] Koed won the Distinguished Alumni Award from UC Santa Barbara in 2016.