How To Become A High School Counselor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a high school counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

As a high school counselor, you are primarily responsible for promoting emotional, social, and personal development in students. You help students to overcome any struggles or difficulties they might have. You collaborate with students, teachers, parents, administrators, and community agencies.

You are a "school counselor," not a "guidance counselor." With your skillset, you should help your students as much as you can. However, you will be your student's advocate till the end of your reign as a high school counselor.

As per the BLS analytics, the median annual salary for high school counselors is around $56,310. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience, skills, or organization.

What general advice would you give to a high school counselor?

Juleen Buser Ph.D.

Professor and Director, School Counseling and Coaching Programs, Rider University

Counseling Services (school counseling concentration) and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (we have a CMHC concentration and a Dance Movement Therapy concentration in this program). The general advice I would give to graduates starting positions in the counseling field would be to understand the critical importance of the work of helping professionals. Counselors optimally provide a safe space for clients to discuss their fears, worries, anxieties, joys, traumas, insecurities, accomplishments, etc. This ability to be an empathic, listening, accepting presence will be even more crucial for clients in our current situation.

ScoreHigh School CounselorUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $48,361

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 68.29%

male 31.71%

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 a high school counselor

Explore high school counselor education requirements

Most common high school counselor degrees

Bachelor's

55.1 %

Master's

34.9 %

Associate

5.7 %

Start to develop specific high school counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Mental Health	7.50%
Financial Aid	6.90%
Community Resources	6.67%
Social Work	6.48%
Crisis Intervention	6.17%

Complete relevant high school counselor training and internships

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

Research high school counselor duties and responsibilities

Lead small student groups addressing student concerns about divorce, loneliness, social skills, study skills and recovery.
Assist students with FAFSA guidelines and scholarship searches.
Help students complete FAFSA, and other time-sensitive documents.
Coordinate test administration; conduct score interpretation and informal workshops about the PSAT program.

Prepare your high school counselor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your high school counselor resume.

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