How to Become a Principal
Becoming a principal builds on your teaching background and adds school-leadership credentials, but the exact requirements depend heavily on your state. Some states require a master's degree, prior teaching experience, and a state exam, while others offer alternative certification routes. Check your state's educator-licensing agency for the specifics where you plan to work.
Becoming a principal means adding school leadership credentials on top of your teaching background, but exactly what that requires depends heavily on your state. Some states have a fairly rigid path: teaching experience, a master's degree, a state exam. Others offer alternative routes; the Education Commission of the States has found at least 16 states with alternative pathways to initial principal certification. If you're weighing a move into school leadership, it helps to see the fuller landscape of other education careers first, since principal is one path among several in school administration. Here's what tends to be consistent about becoming a principal, and where you should expect real variation.
What Does a Principal Actually Do?
A principal's job splits into two very different halves: instructional leadership and building operations. On the instructional side, that means observing teachers, giving feedback that's specific enough to act on, and setting the academic goals the whole school works toward. On the operations side, it means budgets, hiring, discipline, safety, and being the person parents and district staff call when something goes wrong. Supporting teachers well is central to the role: see 8 Ways Teachers Can Build School Culture with the Support of Their Principal for what that looks like from a teacher's side of the relationship.
The elementary and secondary versions of the job differ mostly in scale. An elementary principal manages a self-contained group of grade-level teachers and works closely with families who are often meeting the school system for the first time. A high school principal coordinates dozens of subject-specific teachers, a much bigger extracurricular calendar, and disciplinary issues that carry higher stakes. Both report to a district superintendent and answer to state and federal requirements around student records, special education services, and safety.
How Do You Become a Principal?
Step 1: Build an Education and Experience Foundation
Many states require prior educator certification and/or relevant educational experience, but exact requirements vary by state. Some states link the principal credential directly to a teaching license, while others accept broader education-sector experience. Check with your state's educator-licensing agency for what counts where you plan to work.
Step 2: Gain Classroom or Education Experience
BLS notes that principals typically need teaching experience before moving into school leadership, which is sound career guidance, though it isn't evidence of a fixed number of years required everywhere. The Education Commission of the States' state-by-state comparison shows real variation in how much experience, and what kind, each state requires.
Step 3: Consider a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership or Administration
A master's degree is a common requirement, but the degree and preparation requirements vary by state and pathway - older research from the Education Commission of the States found at least 37 states required a master's plus three years of teaching or related experience, not all of them. Programs typically cover school law, budgeting, personnel management, and supervised administrative fieldwork.
Step 4: Earn Your State's Administrator Credential
Once you've met your state's education and experience requirements, you apply for an administrator or principal credential through your state's educator-licensing agency. What's required (degree, supervised hours, fieldwork) varies by state, so check directly with the agency in the state where you plan to work.
Step 5: Meet Any State Assessment Requirements
Some states require a school-leadership or administrator assessment as part of certification, while others don't. Where an exam is required, the applicable state credentialing requirements specify the required assessment and qualifying score: this isn't something a local school district sets.
Timelines vary considerably by state, pathway, prior experience, and graduate program, so there's no single number that applies everywhere.
What Is the Salary of a Principal?
Principals earned a median annual salary of $104,070, according to the most recently published BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook figures (May 2024), with the highest 10% of earners making more than $165,820.
| Occupation | Median Annual Wage (May 2024) |
|---|---|
| Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $104,070 |
BLS's Employment Projections program estimates about 333,300 K-12 education administrators nationally as of the 2024 base year.
School Principal Organizations & Associations
NASSP - National Association of Secondary School Principals: A national organization focused on secondary school leadership and student achievement.
NAESP - National Association of Elementary School Principals: A professional organization serving elementary and middle school principals across the U.S. and internationally.
ICP - International Confederation of Principals: A global network connecting school leaders to discuss shared challenges across countries.
Find Information About Becoming a Teacher In Your State
Each state has different requirements for becoming a certified teacher. To find out specific requirements, click on your state.
Frequently Asked Questions
What degree do you need to become a principal?
A master's degree in Educational Leadership or Education Administration is a common requirement, but the degree and preparation requirements vary by state and pathway. Check with your state's educator-licensing agency for the exact combination required where you plan to work.
How long does it take to become a principal?
Timelines vary considerably by state, pathway, prior experience, and the length of your graduate program, so there's no fixed number of years that applies everywhere. Most paths include several years of relevant education experience plus, in many states, a master's degree.
Is a principal an administrator?
Yes - principal is the top administrative role in an individual school. Other administrative titles in the same building or district include assistant principal (or vice principal), superintendent, and director of curriculum.
Do principals work year-round?
Many do. Principals often work through summer break on tasks like hiring, budgeting, and curriculum planning, even when teachers are off. The exact schedule varies by district, so it's worth asking about the specific calendar when you're comparing job offers.
- Requirements vary by state - some states require prior teaching experience and certification, and others offer alternative routes. The Education Commission of the States has identified at least 16 states with alternative pathways.
- A master's degree is common, not universal - check whether your state requires one and what preparation it must include.
- Your state's educator-licensing agency decides - exact credential requirements, including any assessment or qualifying score, vary by state.
- Pay is solid, but data is dated - principals earned a median $104,070 as of May 2024, per BLS.
Salary figures for Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary reflect the most recently published BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook data (May 2024). Employment figures reflect the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2024 base year. Figures reflect national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your state may vary. Data accessed August 2026.
The path to becoming a principal runs through a master's program, and the format and cost of that program vary a lot between schools. The sponsored programs below include options built for working teachers, some fully online, so you can compare degrees without stepping away from your current classroom.