Secondary School Administration

Types of Degrees Secondary School Administration Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many secondary school administration/principalship graduations there were in 2018-2019 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	295
Graduate Certificate	160
Doctor’s Degree	4

What Secondary School Administration Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to secondary school administration/principalship were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Secondary School Administration/Principalship Majors

Secondary School Administration/Principalship majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Secondary School Administration/Principalship Majors

When studying secondary school administration/principalship, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Abilities for Secondary School Administration/Principalship Majors

As a secondary school administration/principalship major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

What Can You Do With a Secondary School Administration Major?

People with a secondary school administration/principalship degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School	7.9%	$95,310

How Much Do Secondary School Administration Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to secondary school administration/principalship is $98,750. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Secondary School Administration

Some careers associated with secondary school administration/principalship require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to secondary school administration/principalship have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	6.8%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.3%
Master’s Degree	38.1%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	44.8%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	3.3%
Doctoral Degree	0.1%

Online Secondary School Administration Programs

In 2018-2019, 42 schools offered a secondary school administration/principalship program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	2	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	6	3
Post-Baccalaureate	2	0
Master’s Degree	30	9
Post-Master’s	10	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	3	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Secondary School Administration Worth It?

The median salary for a secondary school administration/principalship grad is $98,750 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 147% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $1,177,000 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Secondary School Administration

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to secondary school administration/principalship.

Major	Number of Grads
General Educational Leadership & Administration	31,657
Higher Education/Higher Education Administration	3,998
Other Educational Administration & Supervision	2,213
Educational, Instructional, & Curriculum Supervision	1,655
Elementary & Middle School Administration/Principalship	1,550
Superintendency & Educational System Administration	1,146
Urban Education & Leadership	708
Adult & Continuing Education Administration	438
Community College Education	335
Administration of Special Education	222

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Shai-WMIL under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.