Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between resident assistants and program assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a resident assistant and a program assistant. Additionally, a program assistant has an average salary of $35,193, which is higher than the $29,971 average annual salary of a resident assistant.
The top three skills for a resident assistant include home health, CPR and vital signs. The most important skills for a program assistant are patients, customer service, and data entry.
| Resident Assistant | Program Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $29,971 | $35,193 |
| Hourly rate | $14.41 | $16.92 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 19,033 | 96,901 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Resident assistants help manage peers or younger students who live in a particular residence hall on campus. They are usually in charge of welcoming fellow students, providing residence hall tours, and helping students cope with their new environment. To help students become more at ease with their environment, resident assistants usually act as buddies. They answer inquiries that the students may have and act as the bridge between the students and the residence hall management. They assist with administrative activities in the residence hall, such as handing out forms for students and ensuring documents are correctly filled out.
Program assistants are usually entry-level or junior employees assigned to a department that handles a specific program in the organization. They assist the team they are assigned to in the implementation of the programs. They usually take care of administrative or clerical activities while also getting exposure to actual program management. Program assistants get trained to handle agendas from inception, to sourcing, to implementation, to evaluation. They may also handle documentary support for business cases or other presentation materials that the team may need for a specific part of the program management cycle.
Resident assistants and program assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Resident Assistant | Program Assistant | |
| Average salary | $29,971 | $35,193 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $39,000 | Between $27,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | Roseville, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | Mount St. Mary's University | The Aspen Institute |
| Best paying industry | Education | Government |
There are a few differences between a resident assistant and a program assistant in terms of educational background:
| Resident Assistant | Program Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY at Binghamton | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between resident assistants' and program assistants' demographics:
| Resident Assistant | Program Assistant | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.0% Female, 66.0% | Male, 24.8% Female, 75.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 6.7% White, 58.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.1% | Black or African American, 13.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 6.7% White, 53.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |