Post job

Interim director education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an interim director. Interim directors usually study nursing, business, or psychology. 57% of interim directors hold a bachelor's degree, and 21% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 7,058 real interim director resumes to see exactly what interim director education sections show.

The most common colleges for interim directors are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

There are also many online interim director courses to help get the education required to be an interim director.

There are certain interim director certifications that you should consider. These interim director certifications include Basic Life Support for Healthcare and Public Safety (BLS) and Certified Professional - Human Resource (IPMA-CP).

What education do you need to become an interim director?

What degree do you need to be an interim director?

The most common degree for interim directors is bachelor's degree, with 57% of interim directors earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 21% and master's degree degree at 14%.
  • Bachelor's, 57%
  • Master's, 21%
  • Associate, 14%
  • Doctorate, 4%
  • Other Degrees, 4%

What should I major in to become an interim director?

You should major in nursing to become an interim director. 27% of interim directors major in nursing. Other common majors for an interim director include business and psychology.

Most common colleges for interim directors

Interim directors often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, New York University, and University of Florida. Here are the most common colleges for interim directors in the US based on their resumes.
Interim director common collegePercentages
University of Phoenix19.00%
New York University6.56%
University of Florida5.70%
Ohio State University5.53%
California State University - San Bernardino5.18%

Best majors for interim directors

RankMajorPercentages
1Nursing27.1%
2Business17.7%
3Psychology6.3%
4Communication4.4%
5Accounting4.3%

Best colleges for interim directors

The best colleges for interim directors are Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and Duke University.

An interim director with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for interim directors. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become interim directors.

1. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

4. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

6. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

7. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

8. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

9. University of California, Irvine

Irvine, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$13,700

Enrollment

29,722

10. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

In-state tuition

$17,653

Enrollment

16,405

20 best online courses for interim directors

Advertising disclosure

1. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff

coursera

Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...

2. High Level Biocontainment for Healthcare Facilities

coursera

The goal of this 4-week course is to equip learners to safely care for a patient infected with a pathogen requiring high-level biocontainment. This can be accomplished in any healthcare facility given the correct approach and protocols. Please copy and paste the following link into a new tab/browser to view the video overview of our course. http://bit.ly/2bPZ6Cz In this course, we will: 1. Discuss the essentials of intake screening. 2. Investigate pathogen transmission characteristics and the...

3. Strategic Planning Basics for Human Resources

udemy
4.4
(1,449)

Learn to collaborate with your organizational leaders on the development and implementation of a strategic plan...

4. Master Course in Human Resources 2.0

udemy
4.3
(312)

Strategic human resource management, strategic planning, recruiting, training, HR management,Labour welfare...

5. COVID-19 Training for Healthcare Workers

coursera

COVID-19 is rapidly spreading across the globe and all providers must be prepared to recognize, stabilize and treat patients with novel coronavirus infection. Following completion of this short course physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals will have a unified, evidenced-based approach to saving the lives of patients with COVID-19, including those who are critically ill. Learning modules are broken into short videos presented in a richly illustrated and compelling manner. The...

6. Health Care Delivery in Healthcare Organizations

coursera

Have you ever needed health care and thought that there must be better ways to get or deliver health care? For example, have you found yourself thinking that there should be a way to get a diagnostic test or treatment at home? Or do you work in a healthcare organization and find yourself thinking that there must be better ways to deliver health care? If you have, this course is for you. Course content includes an overview of health care delivery including healthcare consumerism, the patient's...

7. HR,HR Analytics, Human Resource Management, Black Friday Ed

udemy
4.6
(1,691)

HR Analytics ,HR Courses, human resource management, ,HR certification, HRM, hr payroll, people management, 2022...

8. Ultimate HR Generalist and Human Resource Management Course

udemy
4.3
(1,866)

Hands-on HR Certification: All HRM topics. Master Employee Life Cycle, Payroll, Recruitment, Engagement, EXDesign and AI...

9. Certification Course in Human Resource Management

udemy
4.3
(1,337)

Curriculum commensurate to Top B School's Management Program : with downloadable resources, quiz, assessments & exercise...

10. The Ultimate Guide to Professional Event Planning Management

udemy
4.4
(402)

Learn techniques to become an amazing event planner. You'll get all the skills you need for event management & planning...

11. Human Resources For Beginners

udemy
4.4
(1,664)

A guide to learning the fundamentals of human resource management...

12. Data Science for Healthcare Claims Data

udemy
4.4
(489)

Learn and practice how to transform raw healthcare claims data into valuable knowledge and actionable insights!...

13. Introduction to Human Resource Management

udemy
4.7
(2,402)

HRM is an important function of any organization. It includes managing people in a structured and thorough manner...

14. Ultimate Payroll Management with Income Tax & Year-End 23-24

udemy
4.2
(351)

Basic to Advanced: Certification in Payroll, Compensation Benefits, Income Tax,Year Ending for Payroll & Human Resources...

15. Introduction to Compliance Risk Management CRM

udemy
4.1
(300)

Compliance risk management CRM for Compliance, Risk Management, Internal Audit and IS Security Professionals...

16. Diploma Course in Human Resource Management (HRM)

udemy
4.3
(5,169)

Become top-notch HRM Practitioner - Get Live Projects, Ready-to-use Templates, Demos, Quizzes, Articles, Case studies...

17. Prep to Pass the Professional in Human Resources (PHR)® Exam

udemy
4.4
(332)

The Complete Preparation Course for the Professional in Human Resources (PHR)® Exam 2022-2023...

18. Administrative Human Resources (HR) for Beginners

udemy
4.5
(5,746)

This course is an introduction to the role and duties of Human Resources (HR)...

19. Successful Events: Event Planning, Marketing & Management

udemy
4.7
(2,141)

Create a single successful event or event-series with effective event promotion, planning, management, and monetization...

20. Financial Planning & Analysis: Building a Company's Budget

udemy
4.6
(8,605)

Learn the Fundamentals of Financial Planning and Position Your Career for Success!...

Top 10 most affordable universities for interim directors

The most affordable schools for interim directors are University of Florida, baruch college of the city university of new york, and california state university - long beach.

If the best universities for interim directors are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for interim directors.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

4. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

5. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

6. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

7. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

8. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

9. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

10. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for interim directors

The hardest universities for interim directors to get into are Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, and Duke University.

Some great schools for interim directors are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for interim directors based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

3. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

Admissions rate

9%

SAT average

1,516

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

6. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

7. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,456

8. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

9. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

10. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for interim directors

The easiest schools for interim directors to get into are D'Youville College, mount saint mary's university, and barry university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an interim director without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for interim directors.

1. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

2. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

3. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

4. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

5. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

6. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

7. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

8. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

9. Marymount University

Arlington, VA • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,065

10. University of Baltimore

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,020

Average interim director salary by education level

According to our data, interim directors with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $152,875 annually. Interim directors with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $127,606.
Interim director education levelInterim director salary
Master's Degree$127,606
Bachelor's Degree$110,945
Doctorate Degree$152,875
Some College/ Associate Degree$99,134

Interim director education FAQs

Search for interim director jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse executive management jobs