Mississippi Administration/Principal Certification
The Mississippi Department of Education issues Entry-Level and Standard Career Level Administrator Licenses to qualified applicants. Both of these licenses are at the Class AA, AAA, and AAAA levels.
Education Requirements
Entry-Level:
- You must complete an approved master’s, specialist, or doctoral degree program in educational administration/leadership from a state-approved or regionally accredited college/university
- You must also receive an institutional recommendation from that program verifying completion
Learn more about the graduate school process. Contact schools offering educational administration degree programs in Mississippi.
Standard Career Level:
- You must complete the School Executive Management Institute Orientation to School Leadership entry-level training modules to apply for the standard career level administrator license
Examinations
Entry-Level:
- You must pass the Praxis II School Leaders Licensure Assessment
Standard Career Level:
- No additional examinations are required.
Experience Requirements
Entry-Level:
- You must hold a Five-Year Standard Educator’s License
- You must have three years of education experience
- You must already have obtained an entry-level job as an administrator before applying for an entry-level administrator license
Standard Career Level:
- You must hold an Entry-Level Administrator License
- You must have five years of experience as a school administrator
Document and Application Requirements
You may apply online through the Educator Licensure Management System (ELMS) or by downloading the paper Licensure Application Packet for the Entry-Level or Standard Career Level Administrator License. Make sure to include:
- Official sealed college transcripts documenting completion of administrator preparation program and graduate-level degree (or official electronic transcripts submitted online via eScrip-Safe for institutions that are members of this service)
- Original Praxis score reports if you tested out-of-state (if you tested in Mississippi, your scores will automatically be reported to the Mississippi Department of Education)
- Completed application
- Institutional program verification completed and signed by a representative of your teacher preparation program
- Application fee
Send the above information to Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Educator Licensure, P.O. Box 771, Jackson, MS 39205-0771.
Criminal History Background Check
The Mississippi Department of Education does not require administrator licensure applicants to undergo a criminal history background check. However, you will not be hired as a school administrator in a Mississippi school without having a criminal history check and a child abuse registry check performed (under Mississippi Code 37-9-17).
Fingerprints will be taken as part of this process and submitted to both the Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). You may not work as an administrator in any Mississippi school until your background checks are cleared.
Contact Information
For more information on approved programs in educational administration/leadership, go here for contact information of deans at each college/university in the state offering approved programs.
For more information on administrative licensure in Mississippi, contact the Office of Educator Licensure of the Mississippi Department of Education at 601-359-3483.
