Quick Highlights
A master’s in educational leadership can be worth it for working teachers depending on their career path. Pursuing the Building-Level Administrator license and a principal role pays off fast, since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts principal pay more than $41,000 above teacher pay. Staying in the classroom without pursuing administration may return less, as Arkansas’s LEARNS Act no longer guarantees a pay step for advanced degrees.
Whether a master’s in educational leadership is worth it for a working teacher depends almost entirely on what you do with it. Teachers who pursue the Building-Level Administrator license and move into a principal role may see clearer, faster ROI. Teaching without pursuing administration, on the other hand, means the return depends on your district rewarding the credential, a real and growing uncertainty in Arkansas since the LEARNS Act. Arkansas State University (A-State) offers the online Master of Science in Education (MSE) in Educational Leadership program as a direct career path to administration.
When a Master’s in Educational Leadership Is Worth It
The clearest case for the degree is the one built around its own licensure outcome. A-State’s MSE in Educational Leadership is a 33-credit-hour program that prepares for Arkansas Building-Level Administrator licensure, and licensure programs within A-State’s College of Education & Behavioral Science are accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the credential required to make the leap from teacher to principal or assistant principal.
According to BLS, the median salary for elementary, middle and high school principals was $104,070 in May 2024, compared with $62,340 for elementary school teachers, a difference of more than $41,000 a year. Against A-State’s total program cost of $11,550, that gap alone pays back the degree in well under a year once you are in the role. Please note that this tuition is current as of August 2026 and subject to change.
That trajectory isn’t hypothetical. Torrence Williams, an A-State online MSE in Educational Leadership graduate, used this program to move from classroom teacher to instructional coach, assistant principal and, within about five years, principal of his own elementary school, the exact progression the licensure track is designed to support.
When It Is Not Worth It, or at Least Not Guaranteed
The case is less certain if you plan to stay in the classroom and simply hold the credential. Nationally, districts may pay teachers a stipend for a master’s degree, which can be financially rewarding for some but not enough to account for the full cost of a program.
A-State’s online MSE in Educational Leadership degree is priced with working teachers in mind: $350 per credit hour, all fees included, the same in state or out. That keeps the cost of the credential affordable whether or not you move into administration. Torrence Williams put it this way: “Arkansas State was by far the best program for me. I love that it was cost-effective and that I could do it online. I loved the coursework and everything. The way it was set up was super organized, and I was able to go to school and work on my master’s degree and keep working.”
Recent data from Arkansas’s Bureau of Legislative Research show how uneven this has already become. By 2024, nearly every Arkansas district had flattened pay for brand-new teachers down to the $50,000 floor, but almost half of districts still pay above that minimum once a teacher reaches the top of the pay scale. Which side of that split your district falls on determines whether the master’s pays off through pay grade alone.
Important Note: Arkansas’s LEARNS Act Changed the Math
Arkansas’s 2023 LEARNS Act raised the state’s minimum teacher salary to $50,000 but eliminated the state-mandated salary schedule that once guaranteed a pay step for advanced degrees. Confirm your own district’s current schedule before assuming a raise, and treat any loan payments as a fixed cost rather than something a stipend will automatically cover.
Is a Master’s in Educational Leadership Useful Without Pursuing Administration?
Yes, with a caveat. The degree still builds skills in supervision, school law, curriculum management and school improvement that transfer directly to teacher-leader roles and other career opportunities, and depending on your district, it may position you for a modest stipend or a grade-level lead or department chair appointment. The financial case is smaller than the administration path above, but money is not the only thing this decision turns on.
The other question is scope: whether you want to keep shaping one classroom or have a hand in how a whole building teaches. Since LEARNS removed the automatic pay answer in Arkansas, that question now carries more weight.
For teachers who want to test that question before committing to the administrative track, A-State’s online MSE in Educational Leadership program is built around the same coursework either way. Supervision and evaluation of teaching, school law and curriculum management apply whether you end up leading a building or simply leading your grade level or department.
Is a Master’s in Educational Leadership Useful for Department Chairs and Grade-Level Leads?
Department chair and grade-level lead roles are typically appointed positions rather than licensed ones, so the degree is not a formal requirement for either. What it does provide is direct preparation. Courses in supervision and evaluation of teaching, curriculum management and school law map closely onto what a department chair or grade-level lead actually does daily. Many districts pay a modest extra-duty stipend for these roles, separate from any stipend tied to the degree itself, so the financial case here is smaller and slower than the administration case described above.
Because A-State’s program can be finished in as few as 20 months and runs in seven-week online terms in fall and spring and five-week terms in summer, it’s realistic to complete while already serving in one of these appointed roles. The coursework and the job tend to reinforce each other. A supervision assignment in class often maps directly onto whatever a department chair is already doing that semester.
MSE in Educational Leadership vs. Curriculum and Instruction: Which Fits Your Goal
The two degrees are not competing for the same goal, so the better question is which one matches where you want to go. The online MSE in Educational Leadership degree leads to Arkansas Building-Level Administrator licensure and prepares students for principal, assistant principal or other building-level administrative roles. The MSE in Curriculum & Instruction prepares students for Curriculum Director, Special Education Director or Gifted and Talented Director licensure and for roles such as instructional coach, without requiring a move into school administration.
If your goal is to run a building, the MSE in Educational Leadership is the more direct route. If your goal is to shape instruction and curriculum without taking on administrative authority over staff and budget, the MSE in Curriculum & Instruction is the closer fit, and A-State’s guide on who should consider this path can help you decide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a master’s in educational leadership worth it for teachers?
It depends on the path. Pursuing the Building-Level Administrator license and an eventual principal role produces the clearest return, though it depends on securing an administrative role. Staying in the classroom without pursuing administration produces a smaller, district-dependent return that varies widely and, in Arkansas, is no longer state-guaranteed.
Master’s in educational leadership vs. curriculum and instruction: Which opens more doors?
Neither opens more doors than the other; they open different doors. Educational leadership leads to building-level administrator licensure. Curriculum and instruction leads to curriculum, special education or gifted and talented director licensure.
Does a master’s degree guarantee a raise for Arkansas teachers?
No. Arkansas’s LEARNS Act removed the state-mandated salary step for advanced degrees, so any additional pay for a master’s degree is now decided district by district rather than guaranteed statewide.
How long does it take to break even on a master’s in educational leadership?
Under a year if the degree leads to a principal role, given the BLS-reported gap between principal and teacher pay.
Key Takeaways
- The strongest financial case for this degree is the licensure outcome itself: moving from a teacher’s salary into a principal’s salary, a gap BLS puts at more than $41,000 a year.
- Arkansas’s LEARNS Act raised the minimum teacher salary but removed the guaranteed pay step for advanced degrees, weakening the traditional case for a master’s as an automatic raise.
- The degree is useful, though not required, for department chair and grade-level lead roles, which are appointed rather than licensed positions.
- MSE degrees in educational leadership and curriculum & instruction lead to different outcomes, not competing ones. Choose based on whether you want building-level administration or instructional and curriculum leadership.
The clearest path forward is the one this article has been building toward: CAEP-accredited licensure, a $41,000 pay gap once you’re in the role and a program built around a full teaching schedule rather than against it. If the administration path is the goal, the most direct next step is A-State’s MSE in Educational Leadership program.
Request information about A-State’s online MSE in Educational Leadership program today.