The North Carolina Principal Fellows Program
The Original North Carolina Principal Fellows Program (NCPFP), launched in 1993, was a scholarship program that provided funding to exemplary educators who aspired to begin a career in school administration. The Transforming Principal Preparation Program (TP3), developed in 2016, was a competitive state grant which required NC university programs to apply through a Request for Proposal process in order to receive funding. In 2021, a merger of these programs kept the best attributes of each, resulting in the establishment of the New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program (New NCPFP).
Strong Leaders = Strong Schools
In addition to recognizing and rewarding the state’s most outstanding preparation programs, the New NCPFP empowers institutions to flip the traditional “customer” relationship from one focused on principal candidates’ available time and ability to pay for their continued education, to one dedicated to students’ and schools’ needs. By investing state funds to subsidize candidates’ tuition and residency, North Carolina is enabling MSA programs to be highly selective with new candidates and provide them with the deep, practice-based preparation research suggests they need.
The New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program is really a game-changer for our state. BEST NC and the business community deserve recognition for this kind of forward-thinking recruitment strategy. It’s incredible to think there’s a program designed – not just to recruit – but to discover and develop educators like me; educators who may not have recognized their leadership potential. Who knows how many leaders we missed out on under the old self-selection model. Honestly, I might have been one of them.
Principal Maggie King
Principal at Waynesville Middle School
Haywood County Schools
Without the support of the business community through BEST NC, many of our top talent across the state would not be principals today. In fact, in just a few short years, the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program has produced over 700 leaders.
Dr. Lauren Lampron
Director
North Carolina Principal Fellows Program
Timeline of Transformation: Merging TP3 and the Original NCPFP
In addition to recognizing and rewarding the state’s most outstanding preparation programs, the New NCPFP empowers institutions to flip the traditional “customer” relationship from one focused on principal candidates’ available time and ability to pay for their continued education, to one dedicated to students’ and schools’ needs. By investing state funds to subsidize candidates’ tuition and residency, North Carolina is enabling MSA programs to be highly selective with new candidates and provide them with the deep, practice-based preparation research suggests they need. No longer forced to chase tuition dollars, North Carolina’s principal preparation programs are able to make K-12 students, schools, and districts their primary customers.
Incorporating Research-Based Components for High-Quality Preparation
The New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program is open to traditional public and independent institutions of higher education as well as non-traditional, non-profit routes of entry. Through the incentive of state funds, the program integrates the key research-based components of successful principal preparation nationwide, including:
- Proactive, intentional recruitment efforts;
- A high bar for entry;
- Rigorous and relevant coursework;
- Strategic and sustained investments in teacher & principal salaries;
- Teacher recruitment scholarships for hard-to-staff schools & subjects;
- Teacher leadership & alternative compensation pilots;
- Targeted investments in high-quality recruitment & principal preparation;
- A full-time, paid residency; and
- A focus on authentic partnerships with and preparation for service in high-need schools and districts.
The Current Landscape of the New NCPFP
In the 2023-24 school year, eight grantees are operating regional preparation programs serving principal candidates rigorously selected in partnership with local school districts:
- Appalachian State University’s Principal Fellows
Program - East Carolina University’s PIRATE Leadership Academy
- North Carolina Central University’s Central Carolina Principal Preparation Program
- North Carolina State University’s North Carolina Leadership Academy and Northeast Leadership Academy
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s UNC LEADS Program
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s TP3 Fellows Program
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Principal Preparation for Excellence and Equity in Rural Schools Program
- Western Carolina University’s North Carolina School Executive Leadership Program
RESOURCE LIBRARY
Related Resources & Programs
Below is a curated selection of our catalogue of policy briefs, reports, videos, blogs, interactive data tools, and research around this initiative:
Policy Brief
Advanced Teaching Roles in North Carolina: Meaningful Career Opportunities for Teaching Professionals (2022)