How to hire a student mentor

Student mentor hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring student mentors in the United States:

There are currently 30,332 student mentors in the US, as well as 18,591 job openings.
Student mentors are in the highest demand in New York, NY, with 4 current job openings.
The median cost to hire a student mentor is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new student mentor to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a student mentor, step by step

To hire a student mentor, you should clearly understand the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, and allocate a budget for the position. You will also need to post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to hire a student mentor:

Here's a step-by-step student mentor 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 mentor job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new student mentor
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a student mentor do?

A student mentor is responsible for guiding the students on their educational and professional development by encouraging the students to reach their maximum potential, helping them with their study habits and academic concerns. Student mentors widen the social connection of the students by recommending them to join school activities and other educational organizations. They analyze the students' strengths and weaknesses and implement strategies to address those difficulties. A student mentor also advises the students of their potential careers, considering their interests and social experience.

Learn more about the specifics of what a student mentor does

Post a student mentor job for free, promote it for a fee

Identify your hiring needs

First, determine the employments status of the student mentor you need to hire. Certain student mentor roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

Determine employee vs contractor status

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

A student mentor's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, student mentors from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

The following list breaks down different types of student mentors and their corresponding salaries.

Type of Student Mentor	Description	Hourly rate
Student Mentor	School counselors help students develop academic and social skills and succeed in school. Career counselors assist people with the process of making career decisions by helping them develop skills or choose a career or educational program.	$11-23
Job Coach	A job coach is responsible for evaluating people's skills and qualifications, advising them with career paths, helping with their aspirations, and promote employment opportunities. Job coaches help the clients build self-confidence and explore their maximum potentials to develop their professional growth... Show more	$14-21
Admissions Representative	As the name entails, admissions representatives assist prospective and new students attending a university. They give these students the information they need to make a well-informed decision regarding enrollment, make admissions decisions, and review documents... Show more	$11-28

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Role Model
- Student Life
- Mathematics
- Academic Support
- Financial Aid
- GPA
- Student Athletes
- Academic Performance
- Community Services
- Educational Programs
- PowerPoint
- Study
- International Student
- Leadership
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Manage UAFS's F-1/J-1 student visa SEVIS compliance as DSO/ARO, ensuring all documentation is in order prior to students arriving.
- Assist students with basic mathematics, general science and English (reading and writing )
- Design and implement curriculum for gift elementary students in mathematics, language arts, and science
- Facilitate workshops, group activities, annual leadership conferences, informational sessions, and presentations regarding available resources.
- Mentore in core academic classes such as executive functioning, leadership, self-advocacy, social relationship building and independent living.
- Develop engaging physics problems sets to demonstrate the use of calculus in physics.
More student mentor duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in your student mentor job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A student mentor salary can vary based on several factors:

Location. For example, student mentors' average salary in montana is 46% less than in district of columbia.
Seniority. Entry-level student mentors earn 52% less than senior-level student mentors.
Certifications. A student mentor with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a student mentor's salary.

Average student mentor salary

$16.05hourly

$33,392 yearly

Entry-level student mentor salary

$23,000 yearly salary

Updated January 11, 2026

Average student mentor salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	New York	$39,979	$19
2	California	$36,161	$17
3	Illinois	$31,168	$15
4	Texas	$28,450	$14
5	Oregon	$28,245	$14
6	Kentucky	$26,552	$13
7	Colorado	$25,479	$12
8	Utah	$23,829	$11
9	Indiana	$23,176	$11

Average student mentor salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Research Foundation of The City University of New York	$41,989	$20.19
2	Jefferson Elementary School District	$40,966	$19.70
3	Salem-Keizer Public Schools	$39,549	$19.01	5
4	The Art Institute Of Houston	$36,828	$17.71
5	Western Governors University	$34,121	$16.40	2
6	Metropolitan State University of Denver	$30,167	$14.50	8
7	New York Edge Music	$30,038	$14.44	3
8	Universal Health Services	$29,793	$14.32	50
9	The New York Public Library	$28,132	$13.53	5
10	PSEA	$27,057	$13.01	26
11	Clovis Community College	$26,994	$12.98	2
12	AHRC New York City Foundation	$26,784	$12.88
13	Eastern Kentucky University	$26,632	$12.80	32
14	Roosevelt University	$25,497	$12.26	10

Writing a student mentor job description
A student mentor 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. To help get you started, here's an example of a student mentor job description:
Student mentor job description example
Elevate is one of the world’s largest providers of study skills workshops to middle and high school students, working with over 200 schools in New York & New Jersey and over 3,000 schools internationally.

Currently, Elevate is searching for current college students and recent graduates our dynamic team of presenters.

Job Description

You will be visiting schools around New York and New Jersey to present engaging 60-minute workshops to middle and high school students. The topic: showing students how to achieve their personal best at school.

What You Will Learn

You will experience benefits like:
- Pay – earn in 1 hour what would normally take 4 (approx $40-$50 p/h). Need we say more?
- Flexibility – instead of concrete hours that never change, you can fit your seminars around your college classes. The result? More time to relax and hang out with friends.
- Upskilling – stand out from the crowd and get the edge by gaining commercially valuable skills like public speaking and leadership;
- Rewarding – you can spend your time slugging through admin work and waiting tables, OR you can make a genuine difference to hundreds of school students every day.
If these perks aren’t your style, then please don’t apply. But if they are, Elevate is conducting interviews over the coming weeks and we want you!

Desired Skills & Experience

There are only 15 spots available and key criteria are:
- Experience in some form of public speaking, drama or performing arts
- Strong academic performance at school
- Love working with young people
- Outgoing and charismatic personality
- Spanish-speaking ability is a huge asset, but not compulsory!
Company DescriptionElevate is an education company that attracts high performing people who want to make a difference to school students’ lives.

Working with over 200 schools in New York City, Elevate's current college student trainers are role models within the NYC school community. We go into schools and deliver incredibly engaging and fun seminars to improve student achievement, and to promote a culture of study within a school body (bringing together students, parents & teachers).

You can find more about us online (www.elevateeducation.com).

Elevate is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans status or any other basis protected by law.

Elevate is committed to providing accessible employment practices that are compliant with local legislation. Applicants requiring accommodation for disability during any stage of the recruitment process are encouraged to advise accordingly.
Post your job
There are various strategies that you can use to find the right student mentor for your business:
- Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
- Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
- Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.
Post your job online:
- Post your student mentor job on Zippia to find and recruit student mentor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
Your first interview with student mentor candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.
You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new student mentor
Once you've decided on a perfect student mentor candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your 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 mentor 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.
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.)
Sign up to download full list

How much does it cost to hire a student mentor?

Before you start to hire student mentors, it pays to consider both the one-off costs like recruitment, job promotion, and onboarding, as well as the ongoing costs of an employee's salary and benefits. While most companies that hire student mentors pay close attention to the initial cost of hiring, ongoing costs are much more significant in the long run.

You can expect to pay around $33,392 per year for a student mentor, as this is the median yearly salary nationally. This can vary depending on what state or city you're hiring in. If you're hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for student mentors in the US typically range between $11 and $23 an hour.

Find better student mentors in less time

Post a job on Zippia and hire the best from over 7 million monthly job seekers.

Hiring student mentors FAQs

How much does a good student mentor cost?

What are the duties of a student mentor?

Should I hire a student mentor with no experience?

Search for student mentor jobs

Ready to start hiring?

Updated January 11, 2026

Browse community and social services jobs

How to hire a student mentor