Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.
- Median pay
- $64,330
- Doing it now
- 389,500
- By 2035
- Up 2.9%
- Usually needs
- Master's degree
a year
across the country
27,800 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Provide crisis intervention to students when difficult situations occur at schools.
- Prepare students for later educational experiences by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
- Provide students with information on topics such as college degree programs and admission requirements, financial aid opportunities, trade and technical schools, and apprenticeship programs.
- Teach classes and present self-help or information sessions on subjects related to education and career planning.
- Conduct follow-up interviews with counselees to determine if their needs have been met.
- Prepare reports on students and activities as required by administration.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Human Resources Management and ServicesSee 433 colleges that teach it
- Clinical, Counseling and Applied PsychologySee 233 colleges that teach it
- Student Counseling and Personnel ServicesSee 10 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Helping and teaching
Organised and precise
Leading and persuading
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $64,330 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.