Student Counseling

Types of Degrees Student Counseling Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	13,003
Graduate Certificate	1,080
Doctor’s Degree	401

What Student Counseling Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, student counseling majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Student Counseling Majors

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 Student Counseling Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to student counseling:

• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

Abilities for Student Counseling Majors

A major in 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.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 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 Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

What Can You Do With a Student Counseling Major?

People with a student counseling degree often go into the following careers:

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

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Student Counseling?

This is one of the most frequently chosen graduate majors. It is the 20th most popular in the country with 12,244 students graduating with a master’s in student counseling in 2021. The major attracts more women than men. About 83% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	442
Black or African American	1,558
Hispanic or Latino	2,306
White	7,333
International Students	199
Other Races/Ethnicities	1,165

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Student Counseling, too. About 1.5% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Student Counseling

Some degrees associated with student counseling may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to 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 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)	7	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	1	0
Bachelor’s Degree	98	30
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	540	80
Post-Master’s	116	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	88	5
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	1

Majors Related to Student Counseling

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

Major	Number of Grads
Teacher Education Grade Specific	106,652
Educational Administration	43,921
Teacher Education Subject Specific	40,101
Special Education	34,843
General Education	27,845
Curriculum & Instruction	20,472
Instructional Media Design	8,912
Teaching English or French	5,030
Other Education	4,693
Educational Assessment	4,249
Teaching Assistants	2,942
Multilingual Education	1,654
Education Philosophy	959
International Education	317

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.