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Studies & Degrees in Education Management

Education management, also called educational leadership or educational administration, is the study of how schools, universities and other educational organisations are run. It applies management to a setting with its own rules: public funding, regulation, teaching staff and results that are measured in learning. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) sums up the two main jobs. School principals oversee all school operations, including daily school activities. Administrators in higher education oversee student services, academics and faculty research at colleges and universities.

Programmes usually cover leadership and organisation of schools, education law and policy, budgeting and resource management, staff management and evaluation, curriculum supervision, quality assurance and school improvement, and the use of data. Many include a project carried out in the student's own school or institution.

Qualifications and levels

Education management is mostly a postgraduate subject for people who already teach or work in education.

  • Master's degrees. This is the standard level. Kathmandu University in Nepal, for example, offers a Master of Education in Leadership and Management as a one-year and as a two-year programme. Temple University in Philadelphia offers an Educational and Organizational Leadership MEd. In Argentina, the Universidad Austral teaches a Maestría en Dirección de Instituciones Educativas. In Spain, official master's degrees have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits.
  • Specialisations and graduate certificates. Shorter programmes focus on one role. Temple lists graduate certificates in K-12 School Leadership and in Superintendency. The Universidad Austral offers an Especialización en Gestión de la Innovación Educativa that lasts one year and is taught online, with live classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and about six hours per week; the university states that it has official recognition from the Argentine Ministry of Education and a favourable opinion from CONEAU, the national accreditation agency.
  • Doctorates. Research and senior leadership are served by degrees such as the Educational Leadership EdD at Temple or the MPhil and PhD in Educational Leadership at Kathmandu University.
  • Bachelor's degrees and short courses. Some universities teach education management within a bachelor's degree in education or business, and training centres offer short courses for school administrators.

A degree is usually only one of the conditions to lead a school. In the United States, the BLS notes that principals typically need a master's degree in education administration or leadership and teaching experience, and that most states require public school principals to be licensed as school administrators. In Spain, candidates for head of a public school need at least five years as a career civil-servant teacher and a management project for the school, and those selected must pass a training programme on school leadership before they are appointed (Ley Orgánica 2/2006 de Educación, articles 134 and 135).

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 14 active schools for education management. Three are in Spain, two in Argentina and two in the United States; Nigeria, Nepal, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Austria, Germany and Iraq have one each. In Spain the list includes the Universidad CEU Cardenal Herrera, the Universidad de Murcia and UIBS / Barcelona Business School. Elsewhere it includes the Universidad Austral and Fundación CIEP in Argentina, Temple University and Stetson University in the United States, Kathmandu University, Obafemi Awolowo University, Addis Ababa University, the University of Graz and the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg.

Because school systems are national, programmes are normally taught in the language of the country and built around its education law. Check the language of instruction, whether the programme requires teaching experience, and whether it counts towards the licence or training that your own school system asks of head teachers.

Careers

Graduates work as school principals and deputy heads, heads of department, curriculum supervisors, district or regional education officers, and in university administration as registrars, academic deans or heads of student services. Others work for education ministries, NGOs and private education groups. Temple, for example, addresses its programmes to future teacher leaders, principals, assistant principals, curriculum supervisors and superintendents.

For the United States, the BLS counts 343,800 jobs for elementary, middle and high school principals in 2025 and expects little or no change in employment from 2025 to 2035, with about 20,600 openings a year, mostly to replace people who leave. It counts 231,800 jobs for postsecondary education administrators in 2025 and projects growth of 2 percent over the same period. These figures apply to the United States only.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be a teacher to study education management?

Many programmes are designed for working teachers, and leading a school usually requires teaching experience: the BLS states this for principals in the United States, and Spanish law requires five years as a career civil-servant teacher for heads of public schools. Ask each school about its entry requirements.

How long does a master's in education management take?

It depends on the country. Kathmandu University offers its master's as a one-year and a two-year programme; official master's degrees in Spain have 60, 90 or 120 ECTS credits.

Can I study education management online?

Yes, some programmes are taught online. The Especialización en Gestión de la Innovación Educativa of the Universidad Austral, for instance, is online and lasts one year.

Does the degree allow me to become a head teacher?

Not by itself. Each school system sets its own conditions, such as a state licence in most US states or a selection process and a leadership training programme in Spanish public schools.