A Master's in education administration is a necessary step to becoming a principal or an adminstrator at a higher level in any school system. We tend to think of such people as leaders, and that is indeed true, but along with the that leadership comes a lot of other duties. Planning and budgeting among them: not things that we expect people to simply pick up, they're things that need to be taught to you. The aim therefore of a Master's in education administration is to provide you with the tools you will need to be able to run an organization. This is something more than (or perhaps different from) the skills required to be a good teacher which is where most education administrators come from. If you have leadership skills as well as some years' experience as a teacher then this Master's may well be what you need to move your career to a higher level.

What happens after a Master's in education administration? You might move into a principal's position immediately, although this is likely to be at a small institution. Or you might be an assistant principal for a couple of years before moving up: you might also join the central administration of the school district. One interesting note is that the average salary for a principal is about twice that for a teacher. However, this isn't the greatest reward: a good principal makes a huge difference to a school and so will, over the years, influence for the better the lives of thousands of children. Pretty good job satisfaction, in short.