Career Trends: Elementary, Middle, and High School Principals

Elementary, middle, and high school principals manage all school operations, including daily school activities. They coordinate curricula, oversee teachers and other school staff, and provide a safe and productive learning environment for students.

Principals work in public and private elementary, middle, and high schools. Most principals work year round.

Principals typically need a master’s degree in education administration or leadership. Most principal positions require candidates to have work experience as a teacher.

Employment of elementary, middle, and high school principals is projected to grow 6 percent from 2014 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Employment growth will be driven by increases in school enrollments.

This occupation supported 231,500 jobs in 2012 and 240,000 jobs in 2014, reflecting an increase of 3.7%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 5.7% in 2022 to 244,700 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 234,100, compared with an observed value of 240,000, 2.5% higher than expected. This indicates current employment trends are better than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 6.0% in 2024 to 254,000 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 247,300 jobs for 2024, 2.6% lower than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are better than the 2012 trend within this occupation.