How to Become a Principal in Illinois: Program, Exam, and ELIS

To become a principal in Illinois, you need a Professional Educator License (PEL) with a principal endorsement affixed to it. Getting there means earning a graduate degree, building qualifying school experience, finishing a state-approved principal preparation program (including an internship and evaluator training), passing two state exams, and submitting your application through the state’s online licensing portal. The same endorsement is required whether you plan to serve as a head principal or an assistant principal, at any level from pre-kindergarten through age 22, in a public school, a state-recognized nonpublic school, or a school run by the Department of Corrections.¹

Start With the Degree and Experience

Two prerequisites gate everything else. First, you need a master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution. Illinois also accepts equivalent terminal degrees, including a J.D., Ph.D., or Ed.D.¹

Second, you need qualifying professional experience. The standard requirement is four years of full-time teaching or four years working as school support personnel (such as a school counselor, social worker, or speech-language pathologist) under a valid license. That service can come from an Illinois public school, a state-recognized nonpublic school, a Department of Corrections school, or a comparably recognized out-of-state school.

Strong evaluations shorten the timeline:

Three years qualifies if you received at least a “proficient” rating on each of your three annual performance evaluations.
Two years qualifies if you received an “excellent” rating on each of your two annual performance evaluations.

These accelerated pathways are tied to the state’s evaluation framework, which incorporates data and indicators of student growth.¹

Complete an Approved Principal Preparation Program

With the degree and experience in place, you enroll in an Illinois-approved principal preparation program. These programs are built around state leadership standards and are separate from teacher certification. Coursework covers instructional leadership, school law, financial management, and strategies for improving teacher effectiveness and student outcomes.²

A supervised internship is built in. You work under a mentor principal handling real operational challenges: student discipline, faculty management, curriculum decisions, day-to-day building leadership. Your mentor evaluates your performance across several leadership areas before the program can recommend you for the endorsement.

You also have to complete Administrator Academy 2001, “Illinois Performance Evaluation — Initial Teacher Evaluation Training.” This two-day course teaches you how to conduct formal evaluations of teachers using state-approved methods, and it is a prerequisite for the endorsement.² If the position you’re heading into will involve evaluating other principals or assistant principals in addition to teachers, add Administrator Academy 4050, which is another two days.

Pass the Principal as Instructional Leader Exam

The state exam requirement comes through the Illinois Licensure Testing System (ILTS). You have to pass two subtests, both part of the Principal as Instructional Leader exam:

Subtest 195 covers planning, change, accountability, and instructional improvement, including data-driven decision-making and building a school culture that supports student learning and staff growth.
Subtest 196 covers organizational management, community engagement, and professional advocacy.

A scaled score of 240 or above passes each subtest. Both scores must be officially recorded in the state system before the endorsement can be processed.³

Apply Through ELIS

Illinois handles educator licensing through the Educator Licensure Information System (ELIS). Before you apply, make sure four things are ready:

Official transcripts from every post-secondary institution you attended, clearly showing your graduate degree.
Experience verification signed by a district official confirming your qualifying service was full-time and under a valid license.
Program entitlement uploaded electronically by your preparation program provider once you have finished all coursework, the internship, and evaluator training. Confirm the notification is in the system before you submit, or the application will stall.⁴
Passing ILTS scores for subtests 195 and 196, already recorded in the state system.

Log in to ELIS, go to your dashboard, and choose the option to apply for an endorsement. The workflow verifies your credentials, entitlement, and test scores.⁵

The fee depends on your situation. If you already hold a PEL and are adding the principal endorsement as a subsequent endorsement, the fee is $50, paid by credit, debit, or prepaid card. If you are obtaining an initial PEL through an Illinois preparation program’s entitlement at the same time, the fee is $100.⁵

After you pay and submit, Illinois State Board of Education staff review your documentation. The status shows as “Pending” in your ELIS account during that time, which can run several weeks depending on volume. Once approved, your license status updates to “Issued,” and the public search portal reflects the change so school districts can verify your credentials.

Keeping the Endorsement Active

The principal endorsement rides on your PEL, and the PEL must be renewed every five years. A license that isn’t renewed lapses on September 1 of the renewal year.⁶

Because your PEL is endorsed in administration, you have to complete 100 hours of professional development during each five-year cycle. On top of that, you must complete one Administrator Academy course per fiscal year for every year you are employed in a position that requires the administrative endorsement at 50 percent or more of your full-time role.⁷ Extra professional development hours earned between April 1 and June 30 of the last year of your cycle can carry over. Administrator Academy hours cannot.⁸

If You Are Licensed in Another State

Illinois participates in the NASDTEC Interstate Agreement, which lets administrators who completed an approved program or hold a valid license in one participating state pursue a license in another.⁹ This is not full automatic reciprocity. Illinois may accept your existing credential as a basis for some form of authorization, but it can still require additional coursework, passing subtests 195 and 196, or completing evaluator training before it grants a full principal endorsement. Provisional or temporary licenses from your sending state may not qualify. Contact the Illinois State Board of Education to confirm which additional steps apply to your specific credential.

1
Cornell Law School. Illinois Admin Code tit 23, 25.337 – Principal Endorsement
2
Illinois State Board of Education. PEL Administrative Endorsement
3
Illinois Licensure Testing System. Principal as Instructional Leader Subtest 1 Study Guide
4
Illinois State Board of Education. ELIS for Administrators Entitlement Guide
5
Illinois State Board of Education. Licensure Application Process
6
Illinois General Assembly. 105 ILCS 5/21B-45 – Professional Educator License Renewal
7
Illinois State Board of Education. Renewal and Professional Development for Educators
8
Cornell Law School. Illinois Admin Code tit 23, 25.800 – Professional Development Required
9
National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. Interstate Agreement