College Student Counseling

Types of Degrees College Student Counseling Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many college student counseling & personnel services graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	880
Graduate Certificate	115
Doctor’s Degree	34
Bachelor’s Degree	5
Undergraduate Certificate	2

What College Student Counseling Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to college student counseling and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for College Student Counseling Majors

College Student Counseling majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.

Skills for College Student Counseling Majors

A major in college student counseling prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for College Student Counseling Majors

A major in college student counseling will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a College Student Counseling Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with college student counseling:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Educational, Guidance, School, and Vocational Counselors	12.6%	$56,310

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in College Student Counseling?

This major is dominated by women with about 80% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of college student counseling majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	3
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in College Student Counseling, too. About 20.0% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to College Student Counseling

Some careers associated with college student counseling require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to college student counseling have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	6.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	0.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.3%
Master’s Degree	94.9%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.2%

Online College Student Counseling Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	25	11
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	71	9
Post-Master’s	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	8	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	1	1

Majors Related to College Student Counseling

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to college student counseling.

Major	Number of Grads
Counselor Education/School Counseling & Guidance Services	13,047
Other Student Counseling & Personnel Services	429

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Umary.marketing under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.