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Principal vs educational administrator

The differences between principals and educational administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a principal and an educational administrator. Additionally, a principal has an average salary of $111,719, which is higher than the $67,252 average annual salary of an educational administrator.

The top three skills for a principal include CRM, project management and financial services. The most important skills for an educational administrator are professional development, curriculum development, and rehabilitation.

Principal vs educational administrator overview

PrincipalEducational Administrator
Yearly salary$111,719$67,252
Hourly rate$53.71$32.33
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs84,01552,917
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age4747
Years of experience44

What does a principal do?

A principal is responsible for maintaining the orderliness of the school premises and supervising school operations, enforcing strict safety standards, and reiterating regulatory procedures. Principals' duties also include managing and monitoring school budget and expenses, improving security plans, conducting regular meetings and sharing updates with teachers and other school personnel, creating reports for school funding, and setting academic goals for everyone's compliance. A principal must administer excellent leadership, communication, and decision-making skills to handle major administrative tasks in maintaining the school's growth.

What does an educational administrator do?

An educational administrator oversees the daily operations of a learning institution, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They have the responsibility to supervise the hiring and training of teaching and non-teaching staff, develop educational programs and projects, conduct research and analysis to enhance existing facilities, set budgets and goals, establish guidelines and timelines, and address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Moreover, an educational administrator implements the institution's policies and regulations, maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment for the students.

Principal vs educational administrator salary

Principals and educational administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

PrincipalEducational Administrator
Average salary$111,719$67,252
Salary rangeBetween $69,000 And $179,000Between $41,000 And $108,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYSan Rafael, CA
Highest paying stateNew YorkConnecticut
Best paying companyKKR & Co. L.P.Stanford University
Best paying industryProfessionalHealth Care

Differences between principal and educational administrator education

There are a few differences between a principal and an educational administrator in terms of educational background:

PrincipalEducational Administrator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Principal vs educational administrator demographics

Here are the differences between principals' and educational administrators' demographics:

PrincipalEducational Administrator
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 65.6% Female, 34.4%Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 4.3% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 4.3% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between principal and educational administrator duties and responsibilities

Principal example responsibilities.

  • Manage all documentation associate with FMLA, ADA, & DOL requests.
  • Develop schedules, payroll, and manage recruiting, hiring and company standards to ensure customer satisfaction.
  • Launch, continue to manage, and act as primary portfolio manager and trader for boutique investment consulting firm.
  • Manage the RFP process for a new medical plan TPA delivering a savings of almost $1MM in fix costs.
  • Achieve 7-digit annual revenues from start-up in one year by capitalizing on accurate niche market gap and consumer demand identification.
  • Manage all human resource matters, including payroll and benefits administration.
  • Show more

Educational administrator example responsibilities.

  • Establish operating policies and procedures and attain SNF Medicare certification.
  • Render correct concepts/meanings between source and target languages conveying clarity, tone, and style from one language into another.
  • Lead and develop the technical strategy for improving architectural and design elements of SharePoint to enhance utilization and drive user functionality.
  • Ensure up-to-date ACLS credentials of all medical group providers to practice under JCAHO guidelines.
  • Lead and develop the technical strategy for improving architectural and design elements of SharePoint to enhance utilization and drive user functionality.

Principal vs educational administrator skills

Common principal skills
  • CRM, 7%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Financial Services, 6%
  • Healthcare, 6%
  • Professional Services, 5%
  • ERP, 5%
Common educational administrator skills
  • Professional Development, 12%
  • Curriculum Development, 11%
  • Rehabilitation, 10%
  • K-12, 6%
  • Medical Education, 5%
  • Syllabus, 5%

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