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

What is a school adjustment counselor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Juleen Buser Ph.D.,

Dr. Victoria Pace

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a school adjustment counselor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.5 an hour? That's $50,953 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 32,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a school adjustment 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.

ScoreSchool Adjustment CounselorUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $50,953

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 84.52%

male 15.48%

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 school adjustment counselor

Explore school adjustment counselor education requirements

Most common school adjustment counselor degrees

Master's

51.2 %

Bachelor's

42.5 %

Associate

4.4 %

Start to develop specific school adjustment counselor skills

Skills	Percentages
Behavioral Support	23.15%
Crisis Intervention	21.73%
Group Therapy	10.44%
Social Work	8.51%
Mental Health Issues	5.48%

Complete relevant school adjustment counselor training and internships

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

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed school adjustment counselor usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed school adjustment counselor in most of states. 32 states require school adjustment counselors to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Kansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Master Social Worker
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Licensed Bachelor Social Worker (LBSW)
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Certified Social Worker
Hawaii	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Social Worker
Idaho	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Social Workers

Research school adjustment counselor duties and responsibilities

Manage a caseload of individuals in programs design to provide vocational rehabilitation and other services to the developmentally disable.
Remain non-denominational, open, flexible and ecumenical in service to patients while also providing additional resources from local spiritual communities.
Provide leadership to provide psychological, physical and cognitive rehabilitative services to individuals with intellectual disabilities and mental illnesses.

Prepare your school adjustment counselor resume

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

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a school adjustment counselor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable school adjustment counselor resume templates

Build a professional school adjustment counselor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your school adjustment counselor resume.

Apply for school adjustment counselor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a school adjustment counselor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do school adjustment counselors rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

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2 stars

1 star

School adjustment counselor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2020

Pros

Variety, supporting kids, testing and analyzing, teams.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2020

Cons

The insane amount of paperwork, the insurance/agency politics, the high expectations, the low amount of support. Burnout is very concerning for a profession where people in the frontline are the ones trying to make a difference. Individuals who work in this field need to have an incentive to keep pushing. I’m sorry but a kind heart and good intentions are not enough to sustain this type of career.