How to hire a student life coordinator

How to hire a student life coordinator, step by step

Here's a step-by-step student life coordinator hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a student life coordinator job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new student life coordinator
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a student life coordinator do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your student life coordinator job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a student life coordinator for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a student life coordinator to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a student life coordinator that fits the bill.

   This list presents student life coordinator salaries for various positions.

   Type of Student Life Coordinator	Description	Hourly rate
   Student Life Coordinator	Social and human service assistants provide client services, including support for families, in a wide variety of fields, such as psychology, rehabilitation, and social work. They assist other workers, such as social workers, and they help clients find benefits or community services.	$15-27
   Program Coordinator	Program coordinators are mid-level employees who are assigned to work on a program of a specific department. They handle the communications between their department and any other department that they may need to collaborate with... Show more	$14-30
   Family Services Coordinator	A family services coordinator maintains quantitative quality and qualitative quality monitoring systems and improvement systems for the program strategies to get executed with quality, fidelity, and reliability. They coach and offer supervisory guidance services to the family service team to keep the staff capacity robust and move the staff members towards mastering the core competencies... Show more	$15-26

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Student Organizations
   • Professional Development
   • Event Planning
   • Leadership Development
   • Program Development
   • Educational Programs
   • Risk Management
   • Residential Life
   • Leadership
   • Conflict Resolution
   • Multicultural
   • Greek Life
   • Community Services
   • Public Speaking

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Generate creative and original weekly content for publish, achieving more shares-per-article on Facebook than any other writer at the time.
   • Maintain and correctly manage confidential information in accordance to FERPA regulations.
   • Provide leadership and assistance for campus organizations dedicate to minority students and/or causes.
   • Work with individual chapters on leadership and organization development, scholarship, social and philanthropic programming.
   • Help Medicaid eligible members to secure both physical and behavioral services in the community by reviewing and preparing prior authorization requests.
   • Utilize Microsoft PowerPoint or Prezi for events and peer trainings.

   More student life coordinator duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your student life coordinator job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A student life coordinator can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, student life coordinators' average salary in georgia is 48% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level student life coordinators 42% less than senior-level student life coordinators.
   • Certifications. A student life coordinator with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a student life coordinator's salary.

   Average student life coordinator salary

   $43,449yearly

   $20.89 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level student life coordinator salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

   Average student life coordinator salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$56,709	$27
   2	New York	$51,571	$25
   3	Connecticut	$51,247	$25
   4	Massachusetts	$50,708	$24
   5	Illinois	$48,179	$23
   6	New Mexico	$47,969	$23
   7	Pennsylvania	$46,193	$22
   8	Wisconsin	$45,868	$22
   9	Michigan	$44,261	$21
   10	Arizona	$43,855	$21
   11	Colorado	$42,361	$20
   12	Washington	$41,081	$20
   13	Florida	$39,738	$19
   14	Maryland	$39,678	$19
   15	Texas	$37,542	$18
   16	Utah	$37,120	$18
   17	North Carolina	$36,797	$18
   18	Louisiana	$35,033	$17
   19	Tennessee	$34,965	$17
   20	Missouri	$33,311	$16

   Average student life coordinator salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Long Beach City College	$57,938	$27.85
   2	University of California	$54,963	$26.42	16
   3	Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago	$54,188	$26.05
   4	Washington State University	$51,608	$24.81
   5	Saint Xavier University	$51,489	$24.75	9
   6	University of California-Berkeley	$51,198	$24.61
   7	Lifeway Kefir	$50,927	$24.48
   8	University of Colorado Boulder	$50,092	$24.08	1
   9	Rochester Institute of Technology	$49,600	$23.85	3
   10	The City University of New York	$48,355	$23.25	35
   11	Univ Of Colorado-Colorado Spgs	$48,300	$23.22
   12	Kforce	$47,433	$22.80	3
   13	PSEA	$46,853	$22.53	14
   14	Eastern Washington University	$46,652	$22.43	1
   15	Archdiocese Of San Antonio	$46,628	$22.42	18
   16	Tennessee Technological University	$45,487	$21.87	4
   17	Inside Higher Ed	$45,221	$21.74
   18	University of Wisconsin System	$44,687	$21.48	6
   19	University at Buffalo	$44,596	$21.44	16
   20	Access International, Inc.	$44,273	$21.29	2

4. Writing a student life coordinator job description

   A student life coordinator job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a student life coordinator job description:

   Student life coordinator job description example

   PRIMARY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
   
   The BAC Office of Student Life is a small, but comprehensive department developing student leadership and engaging the student body of about 700 with co/extracurricular activities and events. The position is ideal for an entry level professional with an interest in many facets of student life.
   
   POSITION SUMMARY:
   
   The position Coordinator of the Office of Student Life is a full time exempt position of 40 hours per week providing support for the Office of Student Life (OSL Hours are flexible, and include some evening and weekend hours corresponding to events). This position reports to the Manager of the Office of Student Life. The position collaboratively participates in the vision and strategy of the Office of student life with the OSL team and student leadership.
   
   + Create a welcoming visible presence for the department . Serve as point of contact for faculty, staff, and students on email, in person and remotely. Assist students in navigating BAC departments and processes.
   
   + Participate in the creation and leadership of regular calendar of campus traditions and events. Plan, assist with logistics, provide day-of support for events. Collaborate with necessary to create twice yearly orientations run onsite and online as needed and utilizing the Guidebook smartphone app. Hire and train Orientation Leaders, and from this group mentor "Beekepers" who have the additional role of connecting with at risk incoming students.
   
   + Collaborate with students and OSL staff on departmental initiatives and projects
   
   + Oversee student facing communications/campus publicity. Working with the Office of Student Life and other BAC departments, promote community events, both off campus and on through a weekly emailed all-student newsletter, social media, and BAC screens, posters, etc. Work with the OSL team and students leaders/workers Keep department website pages current.
   
   + Oversee OSL services for students: Coordinate locker assignments and cleanouts, discount T Pass Program for student body, elections for student organizations, supply orders for Office of Student Life (Sketchbooks for NSO, giveaway items, etc);
   
   + Participate in the leadership of New Student Orientation In coordination with the Manager of Student Life, assist in creating twice yearly orientations run onsite and online as needed, utilizing and updating the Guidebook smartphone app. Participate in the training and supervision of Orientation Leaders.
   
   + Participate in the supervision of student workers including Federal Work Study, Community Fellows Orientation Leaders, and "Beekeepers" This includes onboarding, regular organization meetings, tracking of employment paperwork and periodic performance evaluations.
   
   + Housing Oppportunities Collaborate on potentially expanded OSLhousing/residence hall options, and the necessary additional staff and resources that would need to be put in place.
   
   + Perform other duties as assigned by the Manager of the Office of Student Life
   
   SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: Federal Workstudy positions.
   
   STANDARD EXPECTATIONS:
   
   Team and Interpersonal Skills : Success in this position requires proven ability to develop professional positive rapport with other team members including support staff and senior staff.
   
   Service Orientation : Success in this position requires a service-oriented perspective in which, to the greatest extent possible, students and other employees are treated in such a way as to feel valued and well served in their contacts with the facilities team as a professional representative of the BAC.
   
   Confidentiality and Discretion : Success in this position requires the ability not only to maintain the confidentiality of student and employee records, but also the ability to discern when it is appropriate to divulge privileged, if not necessarily confidential, information.
   
   EDUCATIONAL CRITERIA : Earned Bachelor degree from an accredited institution required. Masters Degree in higher education or related field preferred.
   
   EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS: 1-3 years experience in a related nonprofit professional setting with direct experience in Student Affairs or Student Activities such as advising/mentoring and programming with students in a college setting preferred.
   
   + Working knowledge of office systems including Microsoft Windows
   
   + Strong Excel and Word processing skills
   
   + Ability to handle multiple tasks and requests; flexible and able to determine priorities
   
   + Strong attention to detail and excellent customer services skills
   
   + Good written and verbal communication skills
   
   + Must be able to work evenings upon request

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find student life coordinators for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any student life coordinators they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level student life coordinators with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your student life coordinator job on Zippia to find and recruit student life coordinator candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting student life coordinators requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new student life coordinator

   Once you've selected the best student life coordinator candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new student life coordinator first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a student life coordinator?