How To Become An Admissions Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is an admissions specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Admissions specialists usually work at colleges or universities to recruit students, assist students with admissions paperwork, and establish outreach programs to promote their school. They provide timely, accurate, and detailed evaluation service of academic credentials for students of various backgrounds. They also serve as a vital member of the evaluation team to ensure the process functions in a smooth and timely fashion. Moreover, they support the overall functions of the office of admissions in enrolling students. The average hourly salary for this position is $17.37, which amounts to $36,135 annually. In addition, the career is expected to grow in the near future.

The specific duties of an admissions specialist include evaluating academic credentials of applicants, checking for completeness of application files, reviewing transcripts, computing grade point averages, updating files of students as needed, recruiting new students, and working toward building the repute of the institute.

The essential skills required for the position include attention to detail, accuracy, teamwork, computer knowledge, and communication. Educational requirements may vary, but many schools require a master's degree in a relevant field and experience working with people.

ScoreAdmissions SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $36,140

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 76.73%

male 23.27%

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 admissions specialist

Explore admissions specialist education requirements

Most common admissions specialist degrees

Bachelor's

54.0 %

Associate

19.2 %

Master's

10.7 %

Start to develop specific admissions specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	24.01%
Customer Service	14.46%
Social Work	9.24%
Admissions Process	6.58%
Data Entry	3.93%

Complete relevant admissions specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New admissions specialists 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 admissions specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real admissions specialist resumes.

Research admissions specialist duties and responsibilities

Manage assignments of paying medical bills limit in depth that include organizing and researching regulations as pertain to veterans eligibility.
Determine eligibility of applicants base on university and program guidelines, verifying exams, transcripts, character clearance and gpa.
Develop quarterly investor PowerPoint presentations.
Prepare PowerPoint presentations for prospective students that familiarize groups of students to what the university offers.

Prepare your admissions specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your admissions specialist 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 admissions specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable admissions specialist resume templates

Build a professional admissions specialist 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 admissions specialist resume.