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The differences between student support specialists and support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a student support specialist, becoming a support specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a student support specialist has an average salary of $43,449, which is higher than the $40,782 average annual salary of a support specialist.
The top three skills for a student support specialist include student support, social work and support services. The most important skills for a support specialist are customer service, patients, and mental health.
| Student Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $43,449 | $40,782 |
| Hourly rate | $20.89 | $19.61 |
| Growth rate | 12% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 104,264 | 125,740 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
A student support specialist provides ample counsel and advice for students in an educational institution. Student support's responsibility is to help students adjust, adapt, and advance through their learning life in school or university and provide care and support for them to grow. The student support specialist also connects students to relevant benefits, government educational benefits, and other help and benefits provided by the educational institution and its faculty. The student support specialist aims to help students in their studies and see them achieve their goals.
A support specialist is responsible for assisting technical and administrative support, depending on the business need. Support specialists must have extensive knowledge of the services of the organization they work for to assist customers with their inquiries and resolve complaints efficiently. A support specialist maintains documents of issue resolution, providing recommendations to improve business strategies and procedures. Support specialists must be well-versed on technology systems, perform basic troubleshooting, and secure databases. They should also have impeccable customer service and communication skills to attend with customers' needs and requests.
Student support specialists and support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Student Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $43,449 | $40,782 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $65,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Boston Public Schools | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Media | Technology |
There are a few differences between a student support specialist and a support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Student Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between student support specialists' and support specialists' demographics:
| Student Support Specialist | Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 7.0% White, 54.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |