Career
Education administrators, postsecondary
Run the academic, student and business side of a college.
$104,590
Median pay
+1.8%
Job growth, 2025–35
14,500
Openings a year
Master's degree
Typical education
6 years
Typical time after high school
Here's what you actually need to know.
The work
What people in this job do
- Design or use assessments to monitor student learning outcomes.
- Recruit, hire, train, and terminate departmental personnel.
- Direct, coordinate, and evaluate the activities of personnel, including support staff engaged in administering academic institutions, departments, or alumni organizations.
- Advise students on issues such as course selection, progress toward graduation, and career decisions.
- Plan, administer, and control budgets, maintain financial records, and produce financial reports.
The outlook
How the forecast changed this year
The deeper question
What kind of person does this path ask you to become?
What this work centers on
O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.
The work
Do you want most of your days spent on people & care, then persuasion & leadership?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Design or use assessments to monitor student learning outcomes.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Active Listening, Writing.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
6 years of education after high school (master's degree), for a median of $104,590 a year and 14,500 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Business AdministrationSee the degree →
- Health AdministrationSee the degree →
- Educational Leadership and Administration, GeneralCIP 13.0401
- Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum SupervisionCIP 13.0404
- Higher Education/Higher Education AdministrationCIP 13.0406
- Community College AdministrationCIP 13.0407
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary$105,870 · -0.3%
- Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350 · +2.5%
- Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors$64,330 · +2.9%
- Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary$42,910 · +2.7%
- Instructional Coordinators$77,440 · +1.6%
Ask anything about this career.
“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.
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Sources
- BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
- CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.