This study was designed to understand how school districts treat their current principals and principal candidates who have taken online courses or who have earned online degrees. Through a survey of 105 human resources directors in K-12 schools across the USA, the study found five major themes: (1) districts are reluctant to hire principals with online credentials; (2) principal candidates with online credentials are viewed to be less qualified; (3) candidates with online credentials would be interviewed differently than traditionally prepared candidates; (4) if interested in the candidate, a school district would research the online programme; and (5) if hired, the school leader with online credentials may be required to complete additional on-the-job tasks. (Contains 4 tables.)