CCollegeMatcher

Education Administrators, Postsecondary

US occupation · SOC 11-9033

Job titles people report: Academic Affairs Vice President (Academic Affairs VP), Academic Dean, Admissions Director, College President, Dean, Financial Aid Director, Institutional Research Director, Provost, Registrar, Students Dean

Pay and outlook

Median annual wage, May 2025
$104,590
Half earn more, half earn less
Middle half earn
$80,870 – $144,370
25th to 75th percentile
People employed, May 2025
180,470
Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
Projected change, 2025–35
+1.8%
Growing slower than all jobs (0% to under 3.5%)
Openings a year (projected)
14,500
New jobs plus replacing people who leave
Typical education to enter
Master's degree
BLS
  • All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
  • Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
  • Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.

What the work involves

Plan, direct, or coordinate student instruction, administration, and services, as well as other research and educational activities, at postsecondary institutions, including universities, colleges, and junior and community colleges.

Main tasks

  • 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.
  • Formulate strategic plans for the institution.
  • Establish operational policies and procedures and make any necessary modifications, based on analysis of operations, demographics, and other research information.
  • Provide assistance to faculty and staff in duties such as teaching classes, conducting orientation programs, issuing transcripts, and scheduling events.

Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.

Getting in

Typical education to enter (BLS)
Master's degree
Work experience in a related job: less than 5 years
O*NET Job Zone 5
Extensive preparation
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Interests it suits

The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.

  • Social: helping, teaching and caring for people
  • Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
  • Conventional: organising information, records and procedures

Fields of study that lead here

From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 11 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.

Business

  • Research Administration

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.

Where many students take business

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Health & Nursing

  • Clinical Research Coordinator
  • Health Professions Education
  • Nursing Education

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Health & Nursing at the Major step.

Where many students take health & nursing

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Education

  • Educational Leadership and Administration, General
  • Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision
  • Higher Education/Higher Education Administration
  • Community College Administration
  • International School Administration/Leadership

Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Education at the Major step.

Where many students take education

Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.

Other fields

Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.

Medical Residency/Fellowship Programs

  • Medical Education Fellowship Program
  • Simulation Fellowship Program

Related careers

Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.

← All careers

Sources

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0

Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.

Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk