Educators are famous for breaking down the ways in which we look at things. Puzzle-solvers by nature, it’s almost automatic for teachers to look at a statement and instantly start to deconstruct it to understand what is going on behind the curtain.
So of course, we knew right away that presenting education professionals with the Most Affordable Educational Leadership Degrees for each region of the country was just going to lead to a lot of questions.
- What does affordable mean exactly, anyway?
- How did we decide what schools to include and exclude?
- What constitutes an educational leadership degree?
The good news is that the answers are surprisingly straightforward!
Asking the Right Questions to Get the Most Affordable Educational Leadership Degrees
Turns out, a lot of these questions are interrelated. Take affordability.
Affordability is always relative. So our measure accounts for this by considering what affordability looks like in different parts of the country.
Education is a local business. Every state licenses educational administrators in accordance with state standards, and only a handful offer reciprocity for administrators licensed in other states. On top of this, almost every state has a requirement for state-approved coursework that must be taken to be considered for administrator licenses.
For this reason, state-approved programs are almost always based in-state or in neighboring states in the same region. Those are the only programs that you are going to be considering anyway, so you might as well know which ones are the most affordable.
Even though we group the lists by region, the costs are all compared within each state separately.
We take the total program costs for each degree and determine the state average. Schools with a total below that number make the cut—those above, do not. A lucky few land right on the line—we’re generous, those stay on the list, too.
And naturally, if there’s only one school in the state, it’s going to be at the average, and therefore on the list.
But that leads right into the next questions… what schools and programs are being compared? You only get the average of the programs you put in the same bucket—so what is the bucket?
There are a wide range of educational leadership programs, but not all of them check the boxes for licensure. By keeping our choices in that category, we ensure you are looking at apples-to-apples cost comparisons for qualifying as a principal or superintendent in your state.
If there happens to be only a single school with educational administration programs in the state, then we have included it in the list. It’s your most affordable option after all!
Although many administrator prep programs are offered at state schools, you can almost always count on public colleges being pretty affordable in the first place. Additionally, in many states, tuition rates at different public universities are very similar, and often identical.
The real questions of affordability only come up when you are looking at an elite private school educational leadership degree.
Because they have different funding mechanisms and costs, private schools can’t be compared to public universities. But you can certainly compare them to one another to find the most affordable options for high-quality educational leadership training.
Highly Affordable Doesn’t Mean Giving up Your High Standards
By keeping our list to exclusively private universities, we’re already giving you an edge when it comes to quality. After all, there’s a reason they are seen as elite. Relatively small student bodies come with more individualized instructor attention, and the reputation that private universities carry never hurts when competing for a leadership role.
But every school that teaches educational leadership brings a unique philosophy and set of opportunities along with it. The choice that brings you the best options for your career may not always be the program with the highest, or lowest, price tag.
So we provide a lot more information than just the school’s name and a link to their website. You’ll also find data on:
- Formats in which the program is offered, whether online, hybrid, traditional, or all the above
- Accolades from big college review organizations like The Princeton Review
- A list of available concentrations or specializations
- Other educational leadership programs offered by the same school, such as an EdS (Educational Specialist) or EdD (Doctor of Education) in educational administration
- Information about particularly interesting research opportunities, faculty accomplishments, or other unique features
A thumbnail sketch of the program and school, with a perspective on the leadership philosophy and focus they deliver, are all part of the package.
You won’t have any trouble finding degree options here that fit your budget and your career needs. And since you know the programs here include the required coursework necessary to qualify as a principal or superintendent in your state, you can put more time into looking at the other factors that are important to you.