As program administrator, you will be in charge of planning, directing, and coordinating a specific program or service of an organization. Your responsibilities vary by organization and industry. You can work in educational, social services, community, and non-profit organizations. You'll oversee tasks like fundraising, hiring staff, and managing budgets. Additionally, you'll supervise the staff and monitor their work. Moreover, you may write grant reports or find funding to support a program. Also, you'll manage the expenses of the program.

Most program administrators hold at least a bachelor's degree in project management, event management, or a related discipline. You must have prior experience in a similar role. Skills like interpersonal, time management, communication, prioritization, organization, attention to detail, leadership, problem-solving, and decision-making are essential for success in this job. You must be familiar with project management principles. The salary of program administrators varies from $40,000 to $88,000, with an average of $59,457 annually.

What Does a Program Administrator Do

There are certain skills that many program administrators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed multitasking skills, analytical skills and problem-solving skills.

Learn more about what a Program Administrator does

How To Become a Program Administrator

If you're interested in becoming a program administrator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 64.0% of program administrators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.4% of program administrators have master's degrees. Even though most program administrators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Program Administrator

Program Administrator Career Paths

Average Salary for a Program Administrator

Program Administrators in America make an average salary of $50,715 per year or $24 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $73,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $34,000 per year.
Average Program Administrator Salary
$50,715 Yearly
$24.38 hourly

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Roles and Types of Program Administrator

The role of a program administrator includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general program administrator responsibilities:

  • Supports the account services manager (asm) in maintaining client relationships, working in partnership with the field sales organization, while supporting internal asm for accounts. Promotes teamwork, accountability
  • Manages leave administration vendor relationship and service level requirements to ensure proper administration of our leave, ada,
  • Provide support to the program management team utilize advanced computer skills to extract, analyze, compile,

There are several types of program administrator, including:

Administrator

Role:

As administrator, it is your job to support your team. Your goal is that the entire office runs smoothly. So you've got to do the best you can to provide whatever your team needs to be successful. If they need you to get a tattoo to improve their morale, then... We're kidding. Simply put, you'll be responsible for providing office and administrative support. What you get tattooed on your body is business. But the business you work for is counting on your team to get the job done, so you might look forward to duties such as taking phone calls, helping with visitors, creating spreadsheets, and presenting in meetings.

For the most part, you'll only need to work 40 hours each week. Although, some weeks may require a little more time from you. So, you just need to be flexible and roll with the punches. Sure, there's a lot of responsibility resting on your shoulders, but we believe in you.

  • Average Salary: $72,882
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Office Administrator

Role:

As office administrator, you've got to lay down the law for your team. Sure, no one likes a tough boss, but they need to know what goals they're aiming for, and that's where you come in. You'll need to divide and conquer on some tasks, so the team doesn't feel overwhelmed.

The biggest, and probably toughest, part of your job is making sure your team is consistantly performing. You have to find a nice balance for employees so they don't get burned out on work, while also making sure they're not playing Solitaire on their computer.

Office administrators typically work somewhere between 35-40 hours a week. Generally, they won't work more than that. This means you might get to go home a little early some days. Our fingers are crossed that you get off a little early on Friday, so you can kickstart your weekend on a high note.

  • Average Salary: $37,423
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Program Coordinator

Role:

A Program Coordinator manages the planning and coordination of a particular program, managing its functions and activities, and making sure the goals of the program are achieved within the set timeframe and budget.

He or she is responsible for allocating tasks for the employees and handling operations within the financial resources, tracking expenses and transactions. The program coordinator will organize the program agenda and handle both internal and external communication related to it, arranging publicity for the program through different media outlets, and making sure the communication within the departments and staff of the program is flowing and functional.

The program coordinator will create the timeframe of the work and set up deadlines to break down the job into manageable portions. Handling paperwork, creating reports, and maintaining records is also the program coordinator's job, as well as making sure the required technology for the implementation of the program is readily available.

  • Average Salary: $45,068
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Program Administrator Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active program administrator jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where program administrators earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Program Administrator Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,570$72,826
2Texas3,283$50,163
3Florida2,801$50,477
4New York2,445$57,208
5Illinois2,054$45,760
6Georgia1,633$51,003
7Pennsylvania1,616$49,018
8North Carolina1,534$48,242
9Virginia1,516$50,354
10Colorado1,445$47,622
11Ohio1,370$52,348
12New Jersey1,315$65,737
13Arizona1,312$63,494
14Massachusetts1,291$58,099
15Michigan1,213$43,067
16Minnesota1,199$44,121
17Maryland1,196$51,241
18Washington1,144$63,976
19Indiana874$43,964
20Oregon830$68,343
21Wisconsin824$41,889
22Alabama785$40,744
23Missouri780$44,700
24Tennessee741$54,087
25Utah698$46,927
26Connecticut664$66,230
27South Carolina599$42,968
28Iowa494$54,384
29Kentucky493$42,267
30Kansas449$45,236
31Louisiana410$44,299
32Arkansas393$46,637
33Oklahoma383$49,873
34Nebraska380$48,629
35New Mexico370$48,854
36New Hampshire361$46,032
37Mississippi331$41,822
38Nevada330$59,164
39Idaho320$46,878
40West Virginia249$45,110
41Montana242$45,518
42Delaware238$50,044
43Maine225$48,843
44South Dakota163$54,255
45Wyoming144$42,931
46Alaska136$61,765
47Rhode Island126$58,433
48North Dakota115$41,524
49Hawaii109$120,316
50Vermont86$46,845

Program Administrator Education

Program Administrator Majors

29.4 %

Program Administrator Degrees

Bachelors

64.0 %

Masters

17.4 %

Associate

12.0 %

Top Colleges for Program Administrators

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,478

Enrollment

979

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

10. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Top Skills For a Program Administrator

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.1% of program administrators listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as multitasking skills and analytical skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Program Administrator Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Program Administrator templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Program Administrator resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Program Administrator diversity

Program Administrator Gender Distribution

Female
Female
69%
Male
Male
31%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among program administrators, 69.4% of them are women, while 30.6% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among program administrators is White, which makes up 64.6% of all program administrators.

  • The most common foreign language among program administrators is Spanish at 55.2%.

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Best States For a Program Administrator

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a program administrator. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Connecticut. Program administrators make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $120,316. Whereas in California and Oregon, they would average $72,826 and $68,343, respectively. While program administrators would only make an average of $66,230 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Oregon

Total Program Administrator Jobs: 830
Highest 10% Earn:
$108,000
Location Quotient:
1.25

2. Arizona

Total Program Administrator Jobs: 1,312
Highest 10% Earn:
$100,000
Location Quotient:
1.4

3. Connecticut

Total Program Administrator Jobs: 664
Highest 10% Earn:
$106,000
Location Quotient:
1.25
Full List Of Best States For Program Administrators

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Top Program Administrator Employers

Most Common Employers For Program Administrator

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1IBM$90,309$43.4243
2American Express$81,971$39.4122
3Northrop Grumman$77,232$37.1316
4New York University$66,696$32.0716
5Motorola Solutions$64,816$31.1624
6Lockheed Martin$62,638$30.1117
7Raytheon Technologies$59,548$28.6318
8Guilford County Schools$59,478$28.6017
9University of Tennessee$57,675$27.7319
10General Dynamics$57,044$27.4320