Graduate Certificates—Administration of Education

You can apply to one of two graduate certificates: Principal or Superintendent—both offered by the Department of Educational Leadership. Both certificates require that you have earned a master's degree:

• You must have a master's degree before you can obtain the Principal’s Certificate.

• You must have a master’s degree and a Principal’s Certificate before you may be admitted to the Superintendent’s Certificate program.

Following completion of the Graduate Certificate program, students will receive an Institutional Recommendation and may apply for state certification.

General Admission Requirements:

• Master's degree with a minimum of 36 graduate units (in any field)

• Three years of verified teaching experience in grades Pre-K through 12

• Completion of application process

Specific requirements of each certificate are as follows:

Principal

This certificate requires:

• A minimum of 36 graduate units in Educational Leadership, including 27 units of required Educational Leadership course work and 9 units of elective Educational Leadership course work.

• The required units are:

• EDL 600 Leadership Skills;

• EDL 622 Legal Aspects of School Administration;

• EDL 623 Publicity and Politics of Education;

• EDL 625 Supervision of Instruction;

• EDL 627 Personnel Administration in Education;

• EDL 629 The Principalship;

• EDL 635 School Finance;

• EDL 662 Leadership in Instructional Planning;

• EDL 696 Principal Internship

• 9 units of elective graduate credit in Educational Leadership (which may be transferred in from another program)

Superintendent

This certificate requires:

• A Master's Degree (with a minimum of 36 graduate units);

• Possession of a valid principal’s certificate issued by the State of Arizona;

• A total of 60 graduate units;

• A minimum of 24 graduate units in Educational Leadership, including 15 units of required Educational Leadership course work and 9 units of elective Educational Leadership course work.

• The required graduate units (minimum of 15) are:

• EDL 724 School Superintendency;

• EDL 733 Organization Development;

• EDL 734 Educational Funding Policy Studies;

• EDL 736 Advanced School Law: Seminar in Policy Analysis, Development, and Application;

• EDL 797 Superintendent Internship

• A maximum of 9 graduate units of electives in Educational Leadership (may be transferred in from another program, but not from Masters’ degree).

Refer to coe.nau.edu/academics/EDL/, or contact the Northern Arizona University Educational Leadership Department for additional information.

Click here for more information about our Educational Leadership faculty and our:

Educational Leadership graduate courses

Educational Research graduate courses

Community College graduate courses

Educational Foundations graduate courses