Post job

College coach education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a college coach. College coaches usually study psychology, business, or communication. 74% of college coaches hold a bachelor's degree, and 15% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 638 real college coach resumes to see exactly what college coach education sections show.

The most common colleges for college coaches are the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at Austin.

There are also many online college coach courses to help get the education required to be a college coach.

What education do you need to become a college coach?

What degree do you need to be a college coach?

The most common degree for college coaches is bachelor's degree, with 74% of college coaches earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 15% and master's degree degree at 8%.
  • Bachelor's, 74%
  • Master's, 15%
  • Associate, 8%
  • High School Diploma, 1%
  • Other Degrees, 2%

What should I major in to become a college coach?

You should major in psychology to become a college coach. 18% of college coaches major in psychology. Other common majors for a college coach include business and communication.

Most common colleges for college coaches

College coaches often get their degrees at University of Texas at Austin, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and Western Kentucky University. Here are the most common colleges for college coaches in the US based on their resumes.
College coach common collegePercentages
University of Texas at Austin10.58%
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities7.69%
Western Kentucky University7.69%
New York University6.73%
Eastern Kentucky University5.77%

Best majors for college coaches

RankMajorPercentages
1Psychology17.7%
2Business10.2%
3Communication8.4%
4Sociology6.5%
5Political Science6.5%

Best colleges for college coaches

The best colleges for college coaches are Northwestern University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and University of Southern California.

A college coach with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for college coaches. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become college coaches.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

3. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

6. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

7. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

9. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

10. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

20 best online courses for college coaches

Advertising disclosure

1. Career Coaching Certification in Career Development Coaching

udemy
4
(1,988)

Career Coaching Practitioner Course Graduates Ready-To-Work Professionals in Holistic Career Development Career Coaching...

2. Financial Planning Coaching Certification Holistic Coaching

udemy
4.4
(1,262)

Financial Planning Coaching Practitioner Course Graduates Prepared Professionals in Holistic Financial Planning Coaching...

3. Public Speaking for College Students: Become a Great Speaker

udemy
4.2
(262)

Public speaking may be the single most important skill for long-term success and you are unlikely to learn it in college...

4. College Mandarin Chinese on Your Own Beginning Level

udemy
4.5
(418)

Learn One Year's College Chinese Curriculum in Just Two Months and Save Ten Thousand Dollars of Tuition...

5. Management Coaching Employee Performance Coach Certification

udemy
4.5
(3,190)

Set expectations, assess performance, provide feedback, increase productivity, develop employee potential...

6. Personal Development Life Coach Certification1 Training

udemy
4.8
(869)

Personal Development Life Coach Training Course Graduates Prepared Professionals in Personal Development Life Coaching...

7. Management Coaching: Coaching Employees for High Performance

udemy
4.5
(752)

Management Coaching and Communication Course, that Enables Any Manager to Achieve Better Employee & Team Performance...

8. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP Management Coach Training

udemy
4.5
(284)

Management Training, Coaching Remote Team, Management Coaching, Sales Coaching, Sales Management Coach, Sales Leadership...

9. Coaching skills for managers

udemy
4.2
(746)

A guide to using coaching as a leadership skills development tool...

10. Salesforce Development Training for Beginners

udemy
4.5
(7,242)

Salesforce Development :Learn about Apex programming and Salesforce development. Become a Salesforce Developer...

11. Salesforce Development for Intermediate Developers

udemy
4.8
(309)

Become a Salesforce Developer by learning Apex Programming. Learn about Integration, REST webservices, Testing framework...

12. Executive Coaching and Business Case Development

udemy
4
(256)

The Guide to Executive Coaching and Business Case Development Success...

13. Career Coaching: Life Coach Certification (Accredited)

udemy
4.5
(841)

Life coach your clients to a successful job search, resume, interviewing skills, Linked In networking & career they love...

14. Salesforce Lightning Development

udemy
4.8
(334)

Complete lightning tutorial from basic to advance level with live scenario...

15. Stress Management Coaching Certification CGRSC Stress Coach

udemy
4.3
(942)

Stress Management Coaching Practitioner Course Graduates Prepared Professionals in CGRSC Stress Management Coaching...

16. Complete Management Coaching Course - Executive Coaching

udemy
4.2
(333)

Management Coaching - Learn all Aspects of Coaching, Career Coaching and Executive Coaching - Master Coaching...

17. College Algebra with the Math Sorcerer

udemy
4.8
(661)

College Algebra Course with HUNDREDS of Video Examples:)...

18. Salesforce Development & Administration for Beginners

udemy
4.4
(783)

Learn Salesforce Development and Administration with awesome examples and this course will make you expert in Salesforce...

19. Academic Writing Essentials: University Writing Crash Course

udemy
4.5
(1,250)

Learn the strategies, tools, and secrets to write successfully at the university level...

20. The Leadership Masterclass - Leadership Skill Development

udemy
4.4
(377)

Leadership Development Leadership Models Leadership Principles Team Leadership Strategic Leadership Motivation...

Top 10 most affordable universities for college coaches

The most affordable schools for college coaches are California State University - Bakersfield, california state university - long beach, and baruch college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for college coaches are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for college coaches.

1. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

2. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

3. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

4. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

5. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

6. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

7. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

8. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

9. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for college coaches

The hardest universities for college coaches to get into are Northwestern University, Columbia University in the City of New York, and University of Southern California.

Some great schools for college coaches are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for college coaches based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

4. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

6. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

7. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

9. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

10. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

Admissions rate

26%

SAT average

1,427

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for college coaches

The easiest schools for college coaches to get into are Wayland Baptist University, barry university, and felician university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a college coach without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for college coaches.

1. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

2. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

3. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

4. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

5. Life University

Marietta, GA • Private

Admissions rate

94%

SAT average

979

6. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

7. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

991

8. Bluefield College

Bluefield, VA • Private

Admissions rate

95%

SAT average

980

9. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

10. Holy Family University

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,017

Average college coach salary by education level

College coaches with a Bachelor's degree earn more than those without, at $49,015 annually. With a Master's degree, college coaches earn a median annual income of $48,690 compared to $42,509 for college coaches with an Associate degree.
College coach education levelCollege coach salary
Master's Degree$48,690
High School Diploma or Less$40,180
Bachelor's Degree$49,015
Some College/ Associate Degree$42,509

College coach education FAQs

Search for college coach jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse arts, entertainment, sports, and media jobs