What degree do you need to be an academic adviser?

You need a bachelor's degree to be an academic adviser. To work as an academic adviser you need at least a bachelor's degree in counseling, psychology, human services, education, or related field from an accredited institution. Having a master's degree, however, can help you to land a higher paying academic advisor position and can help to accelerate your career faster than someone with just a bachelor's degree.

How To Become An Academic Adviser: What It Is and Career Path

What is an academic adviser and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Your primary duty as an academic adviser is to help students as they advance in their academic courses. You have to explain to students about educational occupation goals and pinpoint students' shortcomings and strengths. As an academic adviser, you have to help students in choosing courses to ensure advancements towards their objectives. Also, you must keep records of students' progress and make sure it is always up to date. In addition, you have to intervene when academic physiological irregularities happen and also link students with means or resources like counselors. You must always encourage them to take part in scholastic activities. You have to carry out personal discussions to recognize their problems and aspects of improvements. Sometimes, you have to also organize fascinating activities to monitor the students' social and personal morals.

To qualify for this job, you must have strong computer skills as well as excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills. Also, you must develop the zeal to assist students in their academic courses from start to graduation. More so, you need to have a bachelor's or master's degree in education, development, student counseling, or related field. As an academic adviser, you would earn an average of $41,444 per annum or $19.78 an hour.

ScoreAcademic AdviserUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $46,729

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.0

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 3.74%

Black or African American 10.64%

Hispanic or Latino 14.20%

Unknown 3.76%

White 67.03%

Gender

female 64.69%

male 35.31%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

9.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an academic adviser

Explore academic adviser education requirements

Most common academic adviser degrees

Bachelor's

63.9 %

Master's

25.7 %

Associate

6.4 %

Start to develop specific academic adviser skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	8.92%
Student Services	7.96%
Financial Aid	7.24%
Professional Development	5.59%
Support Services	5.27%

Complete relevant academic adviser training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New academic advisers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an academic adviser based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real academic adviser resumes.

Research academic adviser duties and responsibilities

Coach and mentore students in determining optimal course of study to achieve specific career performance goals and certifications.
Interpret student records such as transcripts and IEP's.
Collect and analyze data for behaviors and IEP objectives.
Direct a team of four ESL teachers, implement school policies, teaching schedules, and activities clubs.

Prepare your academic adviser resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your academic adviser resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an academic adviser resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable academic adviser resume templates

Build a professional academic adviser resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your academic adviser resume.

Apply for academic adviser jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an academic adviser job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do academic advisers rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

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Academic adviser reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

I love working in a university setting; I love working with people, and especially, students!

Cons

The current university student population is lacking in personal responsibility and critical thinking/problem solving. Some of them need constant hand-holding.