How To Become A Student Support Services: What It Is and Career Path

What is a student support services and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a student support service employee, your main job function is to connect students with services that will help them achieve academic success. Such services include financial assistance, mental health services, remedial academic programs, and housing services, among many others.

Your typical duties in this role will also include conducting interviews with students to identify their needs, liaising between students and service providers, updating student records when necessary, and providing counseling and advice to students and their families. You may also be expected to participate in the development of curriculums, student-centered programs, and various other support services.

If this career is interesting enough to pursue, the first requirement you have to accomplish is obtaining a degree in business, psychology, or something else relevant to this role. After that, you may have to acquire enough working experience in a similar position before you can qualify for the position of student support service employee.

When it comes to salary, the average income you can expect is around $40,000 a year or roughly $20 per hour. As for job opportunities, you can find plenty in colleges and universities, but you may also consider secondary or primary schools.

ScoreStudent Support ServicesUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $40,195

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.19%

Asian 7.30%

Black or African American 13.52%

Hispanic or Latino 19.10%

Unknown 5.20%

White 52.67%

Gender

female 64.63%

male 35.37%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a student support services

Explore student support services education requirements

Most common student support services degrees

Bachelor's

65.1 %

Master's

14.7 %

Associate

13.2 %

Start to develop specific student support services skills

Skills	Percentages
Student Support	21.37%
Support Services	17.77%
Financial Aid	5.83%
Academic Support	5.05%
Math	4.81%

Complete relevant student support services training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New student support services 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 student support services based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real student support services resumes.

Research student support services duties and responsibilities

Manage work flow to ensure all payroll transactions are process accurately/timely.
Assist students to complete and submit FAFSA and scholarship applications as well as course registration.
Assist students with online FAFSA applications and preparation of loan applications and registering for classes.
Document progress notes as students pursue their academic plans and register for classes while maintaining FERPA confidentiality laws.

Prepare your student support services resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your student support services 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 student support services resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable student support services resume templates

Build a professional student support services 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 student support services resume.

Apply for student support services jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a student support services 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 student support services rate their job?

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Student support services reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Cons

The pay. I feel that I don't get paid nearly enough for the amount of work that I do and my responsibilities. I'm expected to be a counselor, security guard, nurse, baby sitter, IT, etc.