Career
Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors
Help students choose classes, colleges and careers.
$64,330
Median pay
+2.9%
Job growth, 2025–35
27,800
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
- Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
- Counsel students regarding educational issues, such as course and program selection, class scheduling and registration, school adjustment, truancy, study habits, and career planning.
- Provide crisis intervention to students when difficult situations occur at schools.
- Counsel individuals or groups to help them understand and overcome personal, social, or behavioral problems affecting their educational or vocational situations.
- Review transcripts to ensure that students meet graduation or college entrance requirements, and write letters of recommendation.
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 information & systems?
Responsibility
Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?
“Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.”
Development
What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?
Active Listening, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Service Orientation.
Trade-offs
What does it ask of you in exchange?
6 years of education after high school (master's degree), for a median of $64,330 a year and 27,800 openings nationally each year.
Paths in
Degrees that lead here
- Human ResourcesSee the degree →
- Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance ServicesCIP 13.1101
- College Student Counseling and Personnel ServicesCIP 13.1102
- Student Counseling and Personnel Services, OtherCIP 13.1199
- School PsychologyCIP 42.2805
- Executive/Career CoachingCIP 52.1006
Paths across
Careers that use similar skills
- Rehabilitation Counselors$46,850 · +2.2%
- School Psychologists$95,990 · +0.8%
- Instructional Coordinators$77,440 · +1.6%
- Education Teachers, Postsecondary$75,350 · +2.5%
- Child, Family, and School Social Workers$59,550 · +4.4%
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.