How To Become A Bursar: What It Is and Career Path

What is a bursar and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average bursar salary is $52,195. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an business major. It usually takes 4-6 years of experience to become a bursar. Bursars with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -77,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBursarUS Average

Salary

4.1

Avg. Salary $52,195

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 6.61%

Black or African American 6.88%

Hispanic or Latino 14.60%

Unknown 3.97%

White 67.31%

Gender

female 68.42%

male 31.58%

Age - 53

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 - 53

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.4

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.3

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a bursar

Explore bursar education requirements

Most common bursar degrees

Bachelor's

56.5 %

Associate

20.5 %

Master's

13.2 %

Start to develop specific bursar skills

Skills	Percentages
Financial Aid	21.54%
Student Payments	8.07%
Credit Card Payments	4.84%
Customer Service	4.11%
Cash Handling	3.98%

Complete relevant bursar training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New bursars 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 a bursar based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bursar resumes.

Research bursar duties and responsibilities

Manage all financial reporting, accounts receivable, general ledgers and reconciliations.
Process accounting documents concerning entitlement to travel expenses for military and /or civilian personnel in activities service by DFAS.
Respond to inquiries from internal organization and external customers regarding package processing, delivery information and services offer by USPS stores.

Prepare your bursar resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable bursar resume templates

Build a professional bursar 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 bursar resume.