Post Master's School Principal Certificate online
Gain an advanced understanding of leadership, curriculum, and supervision to build and maintain a school environment that fosters growth and development for all students and staff.
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Program Overview
Explore the benefits of our Post Master’s School Principal Certificate.
$21,234.70
Total Tuition
varies
Duration
34*
Credit Hours
Prepare to be a leader in education by completing the Post Master’s School Principal Certificate online. The CAEP-accredited program will teach you how to create an equitable, inclusive, and responsive school culture that addresses the needs of both students and staff.
The School Principal Certificate Program provides continuous experiences where you will learn how to support student growth, promote professional collaboration, and lead curriculum and instruction.
Guided by a Leadership Assembly Council composed of local principals, the Post Master's Certificate includes an internship experience that fulfills the 300-hour requirement for the New Jersey Principal Certificate of Eligibility. Learn from faculty who are both academics and practitioners.
For faster completion, this online program builds on
previous degrees and provides an accelerated route to obtaining certification.
Students are able to potentially utilize up to 16 credit hours from a previous
master’s degree and coursework. Transfer credits must have been completed within the last six years.
Learning outcomes:
- Collaboratively lead the development and implementation of a school vision and mission, and processes for continuous school improvement
- Model and develop in others professional dispositions and norms, ethical and legal behavior, and decision-making
- Develop and maintain an equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive school culture and climate for all students and staff
- Lead curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems designed to meet the needs of all learners, as well as non-academic programs to support student growth and development
- Develop and cultivate process for engaging and communicating with families, community members, and staff for continuous school improvement and student learning
- Manage and operate school resources to support student learning, promote the school’s vision and mission, and cultivate student and staff success
- Build professional capacity by developing a collaborative school culture through staff supervision, evaluation, and development opportunities
- Collaboratively lead the development and implementation of a school vision and mission, and processes for continuous school improvement
- Model and develop in others professional dispositions and norms, ethical and legal behavior, and decision-making
- Develop and maintain an equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive school culture and climate for all students and staff
- Lead curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems designed to meet the needs of all learners, as well as non-academic programs to support student growth and development
- Develop and cultivate process for engaging and communicating with families, community members, and staff for continuous school improvement and student learning
- Manage and operate school resources to support student learning, promote the school’s vision and mission, and cultivate student and staff success
- Build professional capacity by developing a collaborative school culture through staff supervision, evaluation, and development opportunities
Career outcomes:
- Principal
- Assistant Principal
- Vice Principal
- Principal
- Assistant Principal
- Vice Principal
$624.55
Per Credit Hour
Duration
Varies
Credit Hours
Varies
The College of Education at William Paterson University is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).
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Tuition
Learn more about WP’s budget-friendly tuition.
Online education programs from William Paterson University offer affordable, pay-by-the-course tuition. All fees are included in the total tuition.
Tuition breakdown:
$21,234.70
Total Tuition
$624.55
Per Credit Hour
| Program | Per Credit Hour | Per 3 Credit Hour Course | Per Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| School Principal Cert. | $624.55 | $1,873.65 | $21,234.70 |
Tuition breakdown:
$624.55
Per Credit Hour
Calendar
Make note of these important dates and deadlines.
William Paterson University online programs are delivered in an accelerated format ideal for working professionals, conveniently featuring multiple start dates each year.
Now enrolling:
1/5/25
Apply Date
1/27/25
Class Starts
| Term | Start Date | App Deadline | Document Deadline | Registration Deadline | Tuition Deadline | Class End Date | Term Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring I | 1/27/25 | 1/5/25 | 1/8/25 | 1/17/25 | 1/22/25 | 3/16/25 | 7 weeks |
| Spring II | 3/24/25 | 3/2/25 | 3/5/25 | 3/14/25 | 3/19/25 | 5/11/25 | 7 weeks |
| Summer I | 5/19/25 | 4/27/25 | 4/30/25 | 5/9/25 | 5/14/25 | 7/6/25 | 7 weeks |
| Summer II | 7/14/25 | 6/22/25 | 6/24/25 | 7/3/25 | 7/9/25 | 8/31/25 | 7 weeks |
| Fall I | 9/8/25 | 8/17/25 | 8/20/25 | 8/29/25 | 9/3/25 | 10/26/25 | 7 weeks |
| Fall II | 11/3/25 | 10/12/25 | 10/15/25 | 10/24/25 | 10/29/25 | 12/21/25 | 7 weeks |
Now enrolling:
1/5/25
Apply Date
1/27/25
Class Starts
Have questions or need more information about our online programs?
Ready to take the rewarding path toward earning your degree online?
Admissions
Take a look at the requirements for the School Principal Certificate Program.
At William Paterson University, we’ve streamlined the admission process to help you get started quickly and easily. Please read the requirements for the Post Master’s School Principal Certificate online program, including what additional materials you need and where you should send them. Review the Program Map to determine eligibility of this program in your state.
The requirements include:
- Master’s degree from an accredited institution
- GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Transcripts from all colleges and universities previously attended
- Evidence of all provisional and standard instructional and educational services and/or administrative certifications
You must meet the following requirements for admission to this Post Master’s School Principal Certificate online program:
- Submit online application and $50 application fee
- Master's degree from an accredited university
- Official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended
- Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Evidence of all provisional and standard instructional and educational services and/or administrative certifications
Official transcripts and other documents should be sent from the granting institutions to:
Email address: [email protected]
Mail address:
Office of Graduate Admissions and Enrollment ServicesWilliam Paterson University
Morrison Hall 102
300 Pompton Road
Wayne, NJ 07470
Courses
Learn more about the courses for the School Principal Certificate Program.
For the Post Master’s School Principal Certificate online program, you must complete a total of 34 credit hours, including 28 core credit hours and six elective credit hours. Note: Students may transfer up to 16 credit hours of qualifying prior coursework.
EDLP 6010: Leadership in Learning Communities
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to introduce candidates to theories and styles of leadership, leadership ethics and professional norms, and leadership for equity, inclusiveness, and cultural responsiveness. The purpose of this course is for candidates to acquire the content knowledge and educational leadership skills to promote the success and well-being of each student and adult by advocating for ethical decisions, cultivating and enacting professional norms, and developing and maintaining a supportive, equitable, culturally responsive, and inclusive school culture.
EDLP 6030: Educational Research
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to provide candidates with an understanding of qualitative and quantitative designs used in education research, basic descriptive and inferential statistics, and evidence-based decision-making as it relates to continuous school improvement. Candidates will acquire the content knowledge and educational leadership skills to collaboratively lead, design, and implement a process for continuous improvement that reflects data use, design, implementation, and evaluation. The purpose of this course is for candidates to understand how school leaders can use education research to promote the success and well-being of every student.
EDLP 6040: Curriculum Design: Theory and Practice
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to develop an understanding of the philosophies, societal influences, current theories, and historical trends that affect curriculum design. The course will provide candidates with the content knowledge and educational leadership skills to apply the knowledge, skills, and commitments necessary to evaluate, develop, and implement coherent systems of curriculum, instruction, data systems, supports, and assessment. The purpose of this course is for candidates to develop an understanding of the school leader’s role in curriculum design for improved learning and instruction.
EDLP 6050: Understanding Group Process and the Psychology of Organizations
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to provide a theoretical basis for understanding the school as a social system. The content knowledge and educational leadership skills specific to school mission and vision, and supportive, inclusive, and professional school cultures are emphasized in the context of organizational dynamics and change. The purpose of this course is for candidates to understand the school leader’s role in evaluating, designing, and communicating a school mission and vision; evaluating, cultivating, and advocating for a supportive and inclusive school culture; and developing a professional staff culture.
EDLP 6060: Principalship
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to provide candidates with the content knowledge and educational leadership skills that principals need to engage the community and practice external leadership. The purpose of this course is for candidates to understand the principal’s role in promoting the success and well-being of each student and adult by engaging families, community, and school personnel to strengthen student learning, support school improvement, and advocate for the needs of their school and community.
EDLP 6090: Supervision and Evaluation
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to examine the historical aspects and current practices of supervision and evaluation in educational settings. Goals, processes, and functions of supervision and evaluation are studied in depth and connected to theories of leadership, motivation, and change. Candidates will acquire the content knowledge and educational leadership skills to improve systems of supervision, support, and evaluation; and to engage staff in professional learning. The purpose of this course is for candidates to develop an understanding of the school leader’s role in building professional capacity of staff to promote school improvement and student success.
EDLP 6100: School Management Functions
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to provide candidates with the content knowledge and educational leadership skills to lead for equitable access to educational resources, procedures, and opportunities; and to improve management, communication, technology, school-level governance, and operation systems to develop and improve data-informed and equitable school resource plans. The purpose of this course is for candidates to understand the school leader’s role in operating and managing a school to ensure equitable access to educational resources, technologies, and opportunities.
EDLP 6110: Legal and School Centered Issues
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to examine the ethical and legal dimensions of school leadership practice. Candidates will examine various ethical and legal issues relating to students, staff, boards of education, and school communities from federal and state perspectives. The purpose of this course is for candidates to acquire the content knowledge and educational leadership skills to promote the success and well-being of each student and adult by applying laws, rights, policies, and regulations for ethical and legal decision-making around school-centered issues.
EDLP 6131: Internship in Educational Leadership Part A
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 1
This graduate course is designed for candidates to synthesize and apply content knowledge and to develop and refine educational leadership skills with a mentor who has demonstrated success as an educational leader within a building setting. Candidates will be engaged in concentrated internship experiences that include authentic leadership experiences within a school setting. This 75-hour internship is intended to satisfy, in part, the 300-hour internship in educational leadership requirement for the New Jersey Principal Certificate of Eligibility as well as national standards.
EDLP 6132: Internship in Educational Leadership Part B
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 1
This graduate course is designed for candidates to synthesize and apply content knowledge and to develop and refine educational leadership skills with a mentor who has demonstrated success as an educational leader within a building setting. Candidates will be engaged in concentrated internship experiences that include authentic leadership experiences within a school setting. This 75-hour internship is intended to satisfy, in part, the 300-hour internship in educational leadership requirement for the New Jersey Principal Certificate of Eligibility as well as national standards.
EDLP 6133: Internship in Educational Leadership Part C
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 1
This graduate course is designed for candidates to synthesize and apply content knowledge and to develop and refine educational leadership skills with a mentor who has demonstrated success as an educational leader within a building setting. Candidates will be engaged in concentrated internship experiences that include authentic leadership experiences within a school setting. This 75-hour internship is intended to satisfy, in part, the 300-hour internship in educational leadership requirement for the New Jersey Principal Certificate of Eligibility as well as national standards.
EDLP 6134: Internship in Educational Leadership Part D
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 1
This graduate course is designed for candidates to synthesize and apply content knowledge, and to develop and refine educational leadership skills, with a mentor who has demonstrated success as an educational leader within a building setting. Candidates will be engaged in concentrated internship experiences that include authentic leadership experiences within a school setting. This 75-hour internship is intended to satisfy, in part, the 300-hour internship in educational leadership requirement for the New Jersey Principal Certificate of Eligibility, as well as national standards.
EDLP 6150: Curriculum Design: Language Arts Literacy across the Disciplines
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to develop an understanding of and appreciation for the five strands of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards in Language Arts Literacy that can be utilized across the disciplines. Teachers will use the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards in Language Arts Literacy to design and develop curricula across the disciplines. Participants will explore reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing, and learn to use them in integrative, interactive ways as they design and develop curricula. They will navigate through textbooks, assessments, the internet, visual arts, literature, informational and persuasive works, and strive to make classroom connections to support their curriculum design. They will discover the relationship between thinking and writing, language and voice, and ideas and values. They will also apply a variety of teaching-learning-assessment strategies to enable their studies to achieve mastery of language arts by using and exploring language in its many dimensions.
EDLP 6160: Curriculum Design: Technology Across Disciplines
Duration: 7 Weeks weeks
Credit Hours: 3
This graduate course is designed to provide candidates with the content knowledge and educational leadership skills to evaluate, develop, and implement high-quality, technologically rich curricula, programs, and other supports for academic and nonacademic student programs. The purpose of this course is for candidates to understand the school leader’s role in designing curriculum that integrates technology across the disciplines for learning and instruction aligned to state and national standards.
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