What Does a Program Counselor Do?

We looked at the average program counselor annual salary and compared it with the average of a counselor internship. Generally speaking, counselor interns receive $6,605 higher pay than program counselors per year.

Even though program counselors and counselor interns have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require crisis intervention, substance abuse, and behavioral issues in the day-to-day roles.

As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a program counselor responsibility requires skills such as "intellectual disabilities," "community integration," "cpr," and "medication administration." Whereas a counselor internship is skilled in "counselors," "clinical supervision," "new clients," and "support groups." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

Counselor interns tend to make the most money in the education industry by averaging a salary of $46,282. In contrast, program counselors make the biggest average salary of $42,341 in the government industry.

The education levels that counselor interns earn is a bit different than that of program counselors. In particular, counselor interns are 33.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a program counselor. Additionally, they're 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The next role we're going to look at is the student support counselor profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $1,404 lower salary than program counselors per year.

While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both program counselors and student support counselors are known to have skills such as "intellectual disabilities," "crisis intervention," and "community integration. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, program counselor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patience," "program activities," "relapse prevention," and "program participants." Meanwhile, a student support counselor might be skilled in areas such as "student records," "professional development," "special projects," and "financial aid." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

It's been discovered that student support counselors earn lower salaries compared to program counselors, but we wanted to find out where student support counselors earned the most pay. The answer? The technology industry. The average salary in the industry is $40,101. Additionally, program counselors earn the highest paychecks in the government with an average salary of $42,341.

When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, student support counselors tend to reach similar levels of education than program counselors. In fact, they're 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The third profession we take a look at is substance abuse counselor. On an average scale, these workers bring in higher salaries than program counselors. In fact, they make a $661 higher salary per year.

While looking through the resumes of several program counselors and substance abuse counselors we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "crisis intervention," "substance abuse," and "staff meetings," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers are a few of the skills necessary to fulfill responsibilities. Some examples from program counselor resumes include skills like "intellectual disabilities," "community integration," "cpr," and "medication administration," whereas a substance abuse counselor might be skilled in "appropriate referrals," "chemical dependency," "methadone," and "drug screens. "

Additionally, substance abuse counselors earn a higher salary in the government industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $64,773. Additionally, program counselors earn an average salary of $42,341 in the government industry.

When it comes to education, substance abuse counselors tend to earn higher education levels than program counselors. In fact, they're 20.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Rehabilitation counselors tend to earn a lower pay than program counselors by about $3,247 per year.

While both program counselors and rehabilitation counselors complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like intellectual disabilities, crisis intervention, and community integration, the two careers also vary in other skills.

While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "behavioral issues," "patience," "program activities," and "relapse prevention" are skills that have shown up on program counselors resumes. Additionally, rehabilitation counselor uses skills like vocational rehabilitation, counselors, community agencies, and community partners on their resumes.

Rehabilitation counselors earn a higher salary in the government industry with an average of $35,967. Whereas, program counselors earn the highest salary in the government industry.

Rehabilitation counselors reach higher levels of education when compared to program counselors. The difference is that they're 22.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.