Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-71.182.239.123-20150701033008/@comment-26356342-20150706162144

ItsSpawner wrote: The Archmage is the leader of the College of Winterhold. They are chosen by the Council of Mages via a vote. While an Archmage could be a master of all the schools, they don't have to be. So long as they win the vote, they are the Archmage. ^ This. A thousand times this. If we're talking Lore-wise it is just a Title, however in the time it would take to actually rise to such a posistion, i would personally assume you had mastered at least 1 or more schools of magic. Looking at the college if they had to choose a new ArchMage right now (if the Dragonborn were gone) the Candidates are all people who've only mastered 1 school of magic.