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Principal vs principal investigator

The differences between principals and principal investigators 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 a principal investigator. Additionally, a principal has an average salary of $111,719, which is higher than the $84,635 average annual salary of a principal investigator.

The top three skills for a principal include CRM, project management and financial services. The most important skills for a principal investigator are patients, data collection, and project management.

Principal vs principal investigator overview

PrincipalPrincipal Investigator
Yearly salary$111,719$84,635
Hourly rate$53.71$40.69
Growth rate5%5%
Number of jobs84,01544,475
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 53%
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 a principal investigator do?

A Principal Investigator is the primary person who is responsible for designing, conducting, and reporting a research project. They report to a designated official such as the department head or division chief.

Principal vs principal investigator salary

Principals and principal investigators have different pay scales, as shown below.

PrincipalPrincipal Investigator
Average salary$111,719$84,635
Salary rangeBetween $69,000 And $179,000Between $59,000 And $120,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNew YorkCalifornia
Best paying companyKKR & Co. L.P.Incyte
Best paying industryProfessionalTechnology

Differences between principal and principal investigator education

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

PrincipalPrincipal Investigator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common majorBusinessPsychology
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Principal vs principal investigator demographics

Here are the differences between principals' and principal investigators' demographics:

PrincipalPrincipal Investigator
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 65.6% Female, 34.4%Male, 52.2% Female, 47.8%
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, 10.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 4.3% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between principal and principal investigator 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

Principal investigator example responsibilities.

  • Serve chemistry project leads for two early-stage drug discovery projects.
  • Design, build and manage CADD, NMR and MRI facilities.
  • Attain IRB approval, recruit participants, analyze the data and present results
  • Manage outsource projects, and interact with vendors for API sourcing, and device components base on project needs.
  • Conduct research using industry standards: GCP, GLP, SORP and compliance with IRB.
  • Receive IRB approval and clearance for research
    • Show more

Principal vs principal investigator skills

Common principal skills
  • CRM, 7%
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Financial Services, 6%
  • Healthcare, 6%
  • Professional Services, 5%
  • ERP, 5%
Common principal investigator skills
  • Patients, 10%
  • Data Collection, 9%
  • Project Management, 8%
  • Technical Reports, 6%
  • FDA, 4%
  • Data Analysis, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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