Kentucky·Management Occupations·SOC 11-9032

Best Education Administrator, Kindergarten through Secondary programs in Kentucky, ranked by enrollment

Plan, direct, or coordinate the academic, administrative, or auxiliary activities of kindergarten, elementary, or secondary.

14 schools in Kentucky run programs that feed this job, graduating 483 people a year. The job pays a median of $99,920 in Kentucky across about 4,940 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPrincipalSuperintendentElementary PrincipalMiddle School Principal (MS Principal)HeadmasterVice PrincipalMother SuperiorAcademic Advisor
Graduates / yr
483
in Kentucky
Median pay · Kentucky
$99,920
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
4,940
people employed
Schools
14
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
54%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,816
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Kentucky that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

4 programs in Kentucky that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Kentucky (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Kentucky page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 13.0401In Kentucky
416
86.1%
13$37,480$23,000
2
CIP 13.0404In Kentucky
39
8.1%
4$37,480$23,000
3
CIP 13.0408In Kentucky
25
5.2%
1$37,480$23,000
4
CIP 13.0411In Kentucky
3
0.6%
2$37,480$23,000

Top 14 schools in Kentucky

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 14 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
58Educational Leadership and Administration, General52%68%
2University of Pikeville
Pikeville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
58Educational Leadership and Administration, General42%$13,886
3Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY Public · 2 feeder programs
54Educational Leadership and Administration, General56%94%
4Campbellsville University
Campbellsville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
53Educational Leadership and Administration, General42%$18,82480%
5Eastern Kentucky University
Richmond, KY Public · 2 feeder programs
48Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision50%78%
6Asbury University
Wilmore, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
41Educational Leadership and Administration, General65%$19,81663%
7Spalding University
Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
37Educational Leadership and Administration, General52%$23,66199%
8Murray State University
Murray, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
29Educational Leadership and Administration, General61%86%
9University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
27Educational Leadership and Administration, General71%93%
10University of Louisville
Louisville, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
25Elementary and Middle School Administration/Principalship61%79%
11Morehead State University
Morehead, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
23Educational Leadership and Administration, General52%77%
12Union Commonwealth University
Barbourville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
16Educational Leadership and Administration, General32%$28,38663%
13Bellarmine University
Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
7Educational Leadership and Administration, General64%$22,54286%
14Georgetown College
Georgetown, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Educational Leadership and Administration, General49%$12,66691%

All 14 schools in Kentucky

Every school in Kentucky with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Kentucky that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Northern Kentucky UniversityHighland HeightsPublic581
University of PikevillePikevillePrivate not-for-profit581
Western Kentucky UniversityBowling GreenPublic542
Campbellsville UniversityCampbellsvillePrivate not-for-profit532
Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmondPublic482
Asbury UniversityWilmorePrivate not-for-profit412
Spalding UniversityLouisvillePrivate not-for-profit371
Murray State UniversityMurrayPublic291
University of KentuckyLexingtonPublic271
University of LouisvilleLouisvillePublic251
Morehead State UniversityMoreheadPublic231
Union Commonwealth UniversityBarbourvillePrivate not-for-profit162
Bellarmine UniversityLouisvillePrivate not-for-profit72
Georgetown CollegeGeorgetownPrivate not-for-profit71

What education administrators, kindergarten through secondary earn in Kentucky

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Kentucky
$99,920
Mean annual
$100,190
Jobs in state
4,940
What the range looks like
10th pct$75,270Median$99,92090th pct$130,310
Versus the national median
-5.6%

U.S. median $105,870. Kentucky pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
1.17×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Kentucky

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
$115,400median
1,380 jobs
Lexington-Fayette, KY
$110,210median
620 jobs
Owensboro, KY
$105,090median
110 jobs
Paducah, KY-IL
$98,130median
110 jobs
Elizabethtown, KY
$101,150median
130 jobs
Bowling Green, KY
$100,700median
170 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-1.5%
Decline
Openings per year
20,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-5,100
333,300 → 328,100
Typical entry education
Master's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary page.

How to become a Education Administrator, Kindergarten through Secondary

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Master's degree
Work experience needed
5 years or more

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Top skills

SpeakingActive ListeningLearning StrategiesReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Kentucky

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 7 majors mapped to Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.0401Educational Leadership and Administration, General
  • 13.0404Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision
  • 13.0408Elementary and Middle School Administration/Principalship
  • 13.0409Secondary School Administration/Principalship
  • 13.0411Superintendency and Educational System Administration
  • 13.0412International School Administration/Leadership
  • 13.0414Early Childhood Program Administration

Common questions

Answers for people weighing education administrators, kindergarten through secondary programs in Kentucky.

What degree do you need to become an Education Administrator, Kindergarten through Secondary?+

Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Educational Leadership and Administration, General, which awarded 416 degrees in Kentucky in 2024-25, 86.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Education Administrator, Kindergarten through Secondary?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Educational Administration and Supervision. Together they graduate about 483 people a year in Kentucky.

How much do education administrators, kindergarten through secondary earn in Kentucky?+

The median is $99,920 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.6% below the U.S. median of $105,870. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for education administrators, kindergarten through secondary growing?+

BLS projects a -1.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 20,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Kentucky?+

14 institutions in Kentucky reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do education administrators, kindergarten through secondary work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Principal, Superintendent, Elementary Principal, Middle School Principal (MS Principal) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-9032.

Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary in other statesTexasIndianaNew YorkArizonaCaliforniaPennsylvaniaFloridaVirginia

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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