Kentucky·Management Occupations·SOC 11-9033

Best Education Administrator, Postsecondary programs in Kentucky, ranked by enrollment

Plan, direct, or coordinate student instruction, administration, and services, as well as other research and educational activities, at postsecondary institutions, including universities, colleges, and junior and community.

16 schools in Kentucky run programs that feed this job, graduating 916 people a year. The job pays a median of $114,310 in Kentucky across about 890 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDeanRegistrarAcademic DeanAcademic Affairs Vice President (Academic Affairs VP)ProvostChancellorCommandantCampus Dean
Graduates / yr
916
in Kentucky
Median pay · Kentucky
$114,310
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
890
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
53%
across those schools
Median net price
$22,542
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.

5 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
45.4%
13$37,480$23,000
2
CIP 51.3203In Kentucky
238
26.0%
4$99,851$21,475
3
CIP 13.0406In Kentucky
219
23.9%
4$37,480$23,000
4
CIP 13.0404In Kentucky
39
4.3%
4$37,480$23,000
5
CIP 51.3202In Kentucky
4
0.4%
1$99,851$21,475

Top 16 schools in Kentucky

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Galen College of Nursing - Louisville
Louisville, KY Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
233Nursing Education61%
2University of Louisville
Louisville, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
199Higher Education/Higher Education Administration61%79%
3Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
58Educational Leadership and Administration, General52%68%
4University of Pikeville
Pikeville, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
58Educational Leadership and Administration, General42%$13,886
5Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green, KY Public · 2 feeder programs
54Educational Leadership and Administration, General56%94%
6Campbellsville University
Campbellsville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
53Educational Leadership and Administration, General42%$18,82480%
7Eastern Kentucky University
Richmond, KY Public · 2 feeder programs
48Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision50%78%
8Asbury University
Wilmore, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
39Educational Leadership and Administration, General65%$19,81663%
9Spalding University
Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
39Educational Leadership and Administration, General52%$23,66199%
10University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY Public · 3 feeder programs
39Educational Leadership and Administration, General71%93%
11Murray State University
Murray, KY Public · 2 feeder programs
33Educational Leadership and Administration, General61%86%
12Morehead State University
Morehead, KY Public · 1 feeder programs
23Educational Leadership and Administration, General52%77%
13Union Commonwealth University
Barbourville, KY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
16Educational Leadership and Administration, General32%$28,38663%
14Bellarmine University
Louisville, KY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
15Educational Leadership and Administration, General64%$22,54286%
15Georgetown College
Georgetown, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
7Educational Leadership and Administration, General49%$12,66691%
16Midway University
Midway, KY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Nursing Education41%$23,65895%

All 16 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
Galen College of Nursing - LouisvilleLouisvillePrivate for-profit2331
University of LouisvilleLouisvillePublic1991
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-profit391
Spalding UniversityLouisvillePrivate not-for-profit392
University of KentuckyLexingtonPublic393
Murray State UniversityMurrayPublic332
Morehead State UniversityMoreheadPublic231
Union Commonwealth UniversityBarbourvillePrivate not-for-profit162
Bellarmine UniversityLouisvillePrivate not-for-profit153
Georgetown CollegeGeorgetownPrivate not-for-profit71

What education administrators, postsecondary earn in Kentucky

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

Median annual in Kentucky
$114,310
Mean annual
$145,310
Jobs in state
890
What the range looks like
10th pct$77,630Median$114,31090th pct$230,220
Versus the national median
+9.3%

U.S. median $104,590. Kentucky pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.38×

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

Metro areas in Kentucky

Lexington-Fayette, KY
$137,250median
200 jobs
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
$138,670median
200 jobs
Bowling Green, KY
$131,880median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.7%
Little or no change
Openings per year
15,100
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,000
226,600 → 230,500
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, Postsecondary page.

How to become a Education Administrator, Postsecondary

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

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

Critical ThinkingReading ComprehensionWritingActive ListeningMonitoringSpeaking

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 11 majors mapped to Education Administrators, Postsecondary8 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
  • 13.0406Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
  • 13.0407Community College Administration
  • 13.0412International School Administration/Leadership
  • 51.0719Clinical Research Coordinator
  • 51.3202Health Professions Education
  • 51.3203Nursing Education
  • 52.0214Research Administration(no graduates reported)
  • 61.0207Medical Education Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)
  • 61.0211Simulation Fellowship Program(no graduates reported)

Common questions

Answers for people weighing education administrators, postsecondary programs in Kentucky.

What degree do you need to become an Education Administrator, Postsecondary?+

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, 45.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Education Administrator, Postsecondary?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Educational Administration and Supervision, Health Professions Education. Together they graduate about 916 people a year in Kentucky.

How much do education administrators, postsecondary earn in Kentucky?+

The median is $114,310 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.3% above the U.S. median of $104,590. 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, postsecondary growing?+

BLS projects a +1.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 15,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

16 institutions in Kentucky reported graduates from at least one of the 5 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, postsecondary work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Dean, Registrar, Academic Dean, Academic Affairs Vice President (Academic Affairs VP) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 11-9033.

Education Administrators, Postsecondary in other statesTexasIndianaCaliforniaArizonaNew YorkUtahVirginiaMinnesota

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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