Quick Highlights
• A superintendent sits above a principal in a school district’s reporting structure, leading the entire district and reporting to the school board. In contrast, a principal leads a single school and reports to the superintendent’s office.
• Superintendents earn substantially more on average than principals.
• Moving from one role to the other typically requires additional graduate-level preparation in finance, governance and district policy.
Principal and superintendent are often treated as points on the same career ladder. In reality, they sit in very different parts of a district’s org chart, with different scopes of authority, reporting lines and preparation requirements behind each title.
Arkansas State University (A-State) offers an online Education Specialist (Ed.S.), Superintendent program built for administrators making that specific move. It adds the district-level finance, governance and policy training a superintendent role requires on top of principal-level leadership experience.
Is a Superintendent Higher Than a Principal?
Yes. A superintendent is the top executive of an entire school district, while a principal leads a single school within that district. Principals report up through district leadership to the superintendent. The reporting structure runs from the classroom to the school board. Principals manage their individual schools and report to district leadership. Superintendents oversee every school in the district and report to the locally elected or appointed school board. The school board sets district policy and hires the superintendent. If you are planning a leadership path, the chain matters: it shows which role holds authority over the other, and where each one’s decisions stop.
What Does a Superintendent Do vs. a Principal?
Principals are the frontline leaders of individual schools, working directly with staff, students and families to build a strong instructional environment. Their responsibilities include instructional supervision, teacher evaluation, discipline and day-to-day operations such as scheduling and facilities. Superintendents lead at the district level, where they manage budgets, board relations, districtwide policy and personnel decisions across every school the district operates.
Both roles require strong communication and decision-making skills, but the environments differ substantially. A principal answers primarily to district leadership and their school community; a superintendent answers to a multi-member school board and must balance educational goals against public accountability across an entire district. Moving from principal to superintendent is a shift in scale and scope, not simply a promotion within the same job.
Superintendent vs. Principal Salary: What Does Each Role Earn?
Superintendent compensation is set locally by each district and school board, so it sits outside Arkansas’s LEARNS Act teacher salary schedule and is negotiated independently. The figures below reflect national data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the AASA 2024-25 Superintendent Salary & Benefits Study, based on 2,077 superintendent responses across 49 states.
| Role | Reported Pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Principal | $104,070 median | BLS, May 2024 |
| Superintendent AASA 2024-25 Superintendent Salary & Benefits Study | $169,343 mean, $158,721 median | AASA 2024-25 Superintendent Salary & Benefits Study |
Both figures are national averages; actual pay in any specific district depends on district size, region, budget and the individual contract a school board negotiates. Neither figure is guaranteed, and moving into either role does not, by itself, set your personal compensation.
How Do You Move From Principal to Superintendent?
Most superintendents previously served as principals or other district-level administrators before moving up. The path typically runs through additional graduate-level preparation focused on finance, governance and districtwide policy rather than instructional leadership alone.
The table below shows the credential ladder Arkansas State University offers, from a foundational leadership master’s through the terminal doctorate. A-State is a Carnegie R2 research university, and its online Ed.D. ranks No. 3 nationally among the most affordable online doctorates in education, according to OnlineU (2026).
| Credential | What It Adds Pay |
|---|---|
| MSE in Educational Leadership | Foundational leadership degree and Building-Level Administrator licensure eligibility |
| Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, Principalship | Advanced preparation and licensure for the principal role |
| Ed.S., Superintendent | District-level finance, governance and policy preparation for the superintendent role |
| Ed.D. in Educational Leadership | Terminal, non-licensure credential; the highest academic credential in the field, and relevant to university-facing roles |
For an assistant principal specifically aiming for a superintendent role, the Ed.S., Superintendent program is the credential built directly around that goal. It covers school district finance, operations management and the board relationships a superintendent manages daily.
Principal Certification Alone vs. a Full Ed.S. Degree: What Is the Difference?
A stand-alone principal certification meets your state’s minimum licensure requirement; a full Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, Principalship adds a deeper, graduate-level course of study beyond that minimum. A certification-only route, such as A-State’s Building-Level Administration Certificate, is built for educators who already hold a master’s degree and need the licensure credential efficiently: 18 credit hours, $6,300 in total tuition, in about 12 months.
A full Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, Principalship runs 30 credit hours and $10,500 over roughly 18 months. These figures reflect published program details as of August 2026 and are subject to change; confirm current tuition, credit hours and admission requirements directly with A-State.
It adds broader graduate coursework in instructional leadership, school improvement and educational research, which can strengthen a candidate’s preparation and appeal to hiring committees beyond the state minimum. However, it also takes longer to complete. Both run at the same flat rate of $350 per credit hour with all fees included, whether you live in Arkansas or out of state, and licensure programs within A-State’s College of Education & Behavioral Science are accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I move from principal to superintendent?
Most principals move into the superintendency after completing additional graduate-level preparation in district finance, governance and policy, such as an Ed.S., Superintendent program, and after gaining experience managing districtwide initiatives.
I’m an assistant principal aiming for a superintendent role. What online credential should I pursue?
An Ed.S., Superintendent program is built specifically for this goal, covering school finance, operations and board relations beyond what a principalship-focused credential includes.
What does a school superintendent earn and is the Ed.S. a good investment?
Superintendents earned a mean of $169,343 and a median of $158,721 nationally in the AASA 2024-25 study. Whether an Ed.S. is a good investment depends on your own goals and district’s requirements, since compensation is set locally and the credential does not guarantee a specific salary or title.
Is a superintendent higher than a principal?
Yes. A superintendent leads an entire school district and reports to the school board, while a principal leads a single school and reports up through district leadership to the superintendent.
What’s the difference between principal certification alone and a full Ed.S. degree?
A stand-alone certification meets the state licensure minimum efficiently. A full Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, Principalship adds broader graduate coursework beyond that minimum, which takes longer but can strengthen a candidate’s overall preparation.
Is the superintendent role part of Arkansas’s LEARNS Act teacher salary schedule?
No. Superintendent pay is negotiated locally by each school board and sits outside the LEARNS Act’s teacher salary provisions.
Key Takeaways
- A superintendent leads an entire district and reports to the school board; a principal leads a single school and reports up through district leadership.
- Superintendents earn substantially more on average than principals nationally, though both figures vary widely by district.
- Administrator compensation is locally negotiated and sits outside the changes to Arkansas’s LEARNS Act teacher salary schedule.
- Moving from principal to superintendent typically requires additional preparation in finance, governance and districtwide policy, not just more years in a principal role.
- A stand-alone principal certification meets the state licensure minimum; a full Ed.S. adds broader graduate preparation beyond that minimum.
Whether your next step is a principal’s office or a superintendent’s, the credential that gets you there should match the specific role, not just the next rung on the ladder. Arkansas State University’s online Ed.S. programs in principalship and superintendency are taught by faculty who have held both jobs. Dr. Jackie McBride was a K-12 teacher, then a principal, then a superintendent, which is the exact progression this article describes, before joining the A-State faculty in 2002.
Explore A-State’s online Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, Principalship or the Ed.S., Superintendent program to plan your path.