Academic advisor job description templates for small schools and training programs: 6 variants with pay data, FLSA exemption, and FERPA notes. Free DOCX.
Academic Advisor Job Description Templates for Small Schools and Programs
6 free templates for education employers hiring without an HR department: small college, career school, bootcamp, private upper school, combined enrollment role, and part-time. Download as DOCX.
Every academic advisor job description on the first page of search results was written by a large university HR office. It assumes a job family matrix, a classification committee, an advising center with a director, and a caseload split across specialists. If you run a small college, a trade school, a training company, or an independent upper school, none of that is true for you.
The gap matters more than it sounds. A generic posting attracts candidates who picture the job they already have at a big institution, and the mismatch surfaces around month two, when they discover that nobody else evaluates transfer credit or runs orientation. The role is fine. The description was wrong.
At FirstHR we write hiring templates for employers without an HR department. The six below cover a small college, a career or trade school, a bootcamp or online program, a private upper school, a combined enrollment and advising role, and part-time coverage, each with the classification and pay rules the generic versions skip.
TL;DR
An academic advisor guides a caseload through degree requirements, registration, and progress monitoring. Classification runs on the academic administrative exemption, not the teaching exemption, so a salary test applies. The national median is $64,330 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Six templates below, downloadable as DOCX.
Who Actually Hires Academic Advisors
Academic advising is not a university-only job. Small colleges, career and trade schools, certificate programs, bootcamps, online course businesses, and independent K-12 upper schools all hire advisors, and the work looks different enough in each that a single generic posting fits none of them well.
The federal employment picture puts the occupation at roughly 376,300 people, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections using a 2024 base year. A meaningful share of those sit at employers small enough that the person writing the posting is also the person who will interview, hire, and manage the hire.
Small college or institute
Advising is a named job
One or two advisors carry the whole student body, so the caseload is broad rather than specialized. The posting has to describe degree audits, registration cycles, and early alert work concretely, because a candidate from a large institution will assume a team that does not exist here.
Career or trade school
Completion is the metric
Cohort attendance, satisfactory academic progress, and file accuracy drive the day. If the school takes federal student aid, the incentive compensation ban shapes how you are allowed to pay this person, which most generic postings miss entirely.
Bootcamp or online program
Usually non-exempt
Titled student success advisor more often than academic advisor. The work is outreach volume, dashboards, and retention cases, which reads as operational rather than academic administrative, so plan on hourly pay and tracked hours.
Private K-12 upper school
Placement plus college prep
Course selection, graduation audits, and academic planning alongside a college counseling function. Add fingerprinting, mandated reporter duties, and whatever your state requires of private school staff before you publish the posting.
Pick the Template by Duty Mix, Not by Institution Size
The four settings above differ on two axes that decide everything else: whether the advisor touches recruitment, and whether the primary duty is academic administrative work or operations. Recruitment contact triggers pay restrictions at any school taking federal student aid. Operational duty mix means non-exempt, hourly, and tracked hours. Answer both questions before you choose a template, because they change the salary line and the classification line in the posting itself.
What Belongs in the Posting
An advisor posting has to answer four questions candidates screen on before anything else: how many students, what population, what systems, and how many advisors already do this job. Most postings answer none of them, which is why they draw volume without fit.
Degree audits, transfer credit, and graduation checks
Registration cycles and the holds you own
Early alert and probation outreach
Documentation standard and the system it lives in
The parts that protect you
FLSA classification stated on the posting
Fixed salary language where the incentive ban applies
Background check and, for schools, fingerprinting
Confidentiality and student records expectations
The parts that win the hire
Salary or a good-faith range
Whether the calendar is 12-month or academic-year
Growth path: senior advisor, program lead, director
A named person and a real deadline to apply
The caseload number is the single highest-value line in the document. An advisor deciding between two offers will compare 180 advisees against 400 immediately, and a posting that hides the number reads as a posting hiding a problem. Our guide to writing a job description covers the general structure in more depth.
6 Academic Advisor Job Description Templates to Download
Download all six as one file or copy them individually. Each follows the same structure: institution overview, position summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications, a classification and compliance note, an equal opportunity statement, and how to apply. The bracketed fields are the only parts you need to change.
Download All 6 Academic Advisor Job Description Templates
Small college, career school, student success, private upper school, combined enrollment role, and part-time. All in one download.
Small College or Institute
Full caseload advising
The general degree-granting version, with degree audits, registration cycles, early alerts, and advising records built in.
Career or Trade School
Cohort through completion
Attendance, satisfactory academic progress, externship readiness, and the fixed-salary language the incentive compensation ban requires.
Student Success Advisor
Bootcamp or online
Retention-focused, with check-in cadence, at-risk cases, and a default to non-exempt hourly pay stated plainly.
Private Upper School
Placement and planning
Course selection, graduation audits, accommodations, and the school-specific screening every K-12 posting needs.
Enrollment and Advising
Combined role
For a small program where one person owns admission and advising, with the pay restrictions that combination triggers.
Part-Time or Seasonal
Peak period coverage
For registration and orientation surges, with hourly classification, hour tracking, and per-workweek overtime spelled out.
Template 1: Academic Advisor, Small College or Institute
The general degree-granting version, with degree audits, registration cycles, early alert outreach, and advising documentation built in.
Academic Advisor, Small College or Institute Job Description
ACADEMIC ADVISOR JOB DESCRIPTION (SMALL COLLEGE OR INSTITUTE)
Institution: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Dean / Director of Advising / Academic Dean]
•[Number] years of advising, student services, or teaching experience
•Comfort reading a degree audit and explaining policy without jargon
•Documented ability to handle confidential student records appropriately
•Must clear a background check as required by our policy and state law
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE (read before posting)
Academic advising can qualify for the FLSA administrative exemption when the
primary duty is academic administrative work: administering testing programs,
assisting students with academic problems, and advising students on degree
requirements. That exemption carries an unusual pay option. The advisor can meet
the standard weekly salary level, or be paid on a salary basis at least equal to
the entrance salary for teachers at the same educational establishment. Duties
decide the classification, not the title. An advisor whose day is mostly
scheduling, data entry, front-desk coverage, or call handling is non-exempt and
owed overtime past 40 hours in a week. Student records are governed by FERPA at
any institution receiving federal funds. This is general information, not legal
advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Institution Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [appointment length]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a cover letter.
Template 2: Academic Advisor, Career or Trade School
Cohort ownership through completion, with attendance and satisfactory academic progress tracking and the fixed-salary language the incentive compensation ban requires. Pair it with the registrar templates if records sit with a separate person.
Academic Advisor, Career or Trade School Job Description
ACADEMIC ADVISOR JOB DESCRIPTION (CAREER OR TRADE SCHOOL)
School: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [School Director / Director of Education]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt: decide on duties, see note]
Compensation: $_ per year, no enrollment-based incentive pay
ABOUT [SCHOOL NAME]
[School Name] trains students for [trade / licensure / certification] in
[program length] programs with [cohort size] cohorts starting [frequency]. Our
advisors carry a cohort from the first week through completion and placement
readiness, and they are measured on completion, not on headcount.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Academic Advisor supports an assigned cohort through the program: attendance
and satisfactory academic progress, make-up work, externship readiness, and the
paperwork that keeps a student eligible and on track to complete.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Own a cohort of [number] students from start date through completion
•Track attendance and satisfactory academic progress against our published
policy, and issue warnings and plans on the required timeline
•Meet each student at [intervals] and document every meeting
•Coordinate make-up hours, re-tests, and remediation with instructors
•Prepare students for [externship / clinical / licensure exam] requirements
•Refer to financial aid without advising on aid awards yourself
•Maintain accurate student files for accreditation and state authorization
•Report completion and retention metrics to [School Director]
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Associate / bachelor's] degree, or equivalent experience in the trade
•Experience in student services at a career, trade, or proprietary school
•Working knowledge of attendance and satisfactory academic progress policies
•Clear written documentation habits; files get audited here
•Must clear a background check as required by our policy and state law
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Two rules drive this posting. First, classification: an advisor doing genuine
academic administrative work may be exempt, while an advisor doing scheduling,
call handling, and records entry is non-exempt and owed overtime. Decide on the
actual duties. Second, and specific to schools participating in Title IV federal
student aid: the incentive compensation ban at 34 CFR 668.14(b)(22) prohibits any
commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based in any part, directly or
indirectly, on success in securing enrollments or the award of financial aid, to
anyone engaged in student recruitment or admission activity or in decisions about
Title IV funds. If this role touches recruitment or admissions at all, pay a
fixed salary and keep enrollment counts out of the bonus formula entirely.
Student records are governed by FERPA. This is general information, not legal
advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[School Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary]. Compensation is a fixed
salary and is not tied to enrollment numbers.
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Still Using Spreadsheets for Onboarding?
Automate documents, training assignments, task management, and track onboarding progress in real time.
FLSA status: Non-exempt (hourly, overtime-eligible) unless the duties clearly
meet an exemption
Compensation: $_ per [hour / year]
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Company Name] runs [subject] programs of [length] for [cohort size] learners at
a time. Completion is the whole business model, so the Student Success Advisor
is the person who notices a learner going quiet in week three and does something
about it before week six.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Student Success Advisor owns learner progress and retention for an assigned
cohort: onboarding, pacing, check-ins, escalation to instructors, and the
outreach that keeps someone enrolled when life gets in the way.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Onboard each new cohort and set expectations for pace and workload
•Run scheduled one-to-one check-ins with [number] learners
•Watch progress dashboards and open a case when someone falls behind
•Escalate technical, instructional, and personal blockers to the right owner
•Run [pause / restart / deferral] conversations against our written policy
•Log every interaction in [CRM / learning platform]
•Report weekly on retention, completion, and at-risk counts
•Contribute to curriculum feedback from what learners actually struggle with
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Bachelor's degree / equivalent experience: set your bar]
•[Number] years in student success, coaching, account management, or advising
•Comfort with a high volume of written outreach and a CRM
•Judgment about when to encourage and when to escalate
•Must clear a background check as required by our policy
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Default to non-exempt for this role. The academic administrative exemption is
written around employees of an educational establishment doing academic
administrative work, and a commercial bootcamp or online course business is
often not an educational establishment in that sense. Even where it is, an
advisor whose primary duty is outreach volume, CRM hygiene, and dashboard
monitoring is doing operational work rather than academic administrative work.
Non-exempt means tracking hours honestly, including evening and weekend outreach
from a phone, and paying overtime past 40 hours in a week. If your program
participates in Title IV federal student aid, the incentive compensation ban at
34 CFR 668.14(b)(22) also applies to anyone touching recruitment. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Company Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per [hour / year], [benefits summary], [remote policy]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 4: Academic Advisor, Private Upper School
Course selection, graduation audits, accommodations, and academic planning with families. If the role also carries college counseling and personal support, the guidance counselor templates describe that combination better.
Academic Advisor, Private Upper School Job Description
•Experience in school advising, counseling, teaching, or academic support
•[State school counselor certification required / preferred / not required:
confirm what your state requires of private schools]
•Fluency with transcripts, credits, and graduation audits
•Must clear a criminal background check and fingerprinting as required by state
law and our policy, before the first day
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
An academic advisor at a school is generally evaluated under the academic
administrative exemption rather than the teaching exemption, unless the person
also carries a genuine teaching load. That matters, because the teaching
exemption has no salary test while the academic administrative exemption does:
the advisor must meet the standard salary level or be paid at least the entrance
salary for teachers at the same school. All school employees are mandated
reporters of suspected child abuse and neglect, and most states require
fingerprint-based background checks for school staff, including at private
schools. Student records are governed by FERPA at schools receiving federal
funds, and by your own written policy everywhere else. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[School Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, [benefits summary], [contract length]
To apply, email __ with your resume and a cover letter.
Template 5: Enrollment and Academic Advisor
For a small program where one person owns admission and advising end to end, with the pay restrictions that combination triggers written into the posting itself.
Enrollment and Academic Advisor, Combined Role Job Description
ENROLLMENT AND ACADEMIC ADVISOR JOB DESCRIPTION (COMBINED ROLE)
Organization: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Director / Owner]
Employment type: Full-time
FLSA status: [Exempt / Non-exempt: decide on duties, see note]
Compensation: $_ per year, fixed salary with no enrollment-based bonus
ABOUT THIS ROLE
[Organization Name] is small enough that one person handles both sides of the
student relationship: helping a prospective student decide whether the program
fits, then advising them through it. This posting is honest about that, because
the combined role carries obligations a split role does not.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Enrollment and Academic Advisor guides prospective students through program
selection and admission, then advises enrolled students on scheduling, progress,
and completion. The role owns the student relationship end to end.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Respond to inquiries and run honest program-fit conversations
•Explain program length, cost, outcomes, and requirements accurately
•Process applications and prepare files for [admission decision]
•Onboard admitted students: orientation, schedule, and first-term plan
•Advise enrolled students on progress, standing, and completion
•Maintain accurate records across [CRM and student information system]
•Report on inquiry, enrollment, and completion volumes
•Escalate anything that looks like a misrepresentation risk immediately
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Bachelor's degree / equivalent experience: set your bar]
•Experience in admissions, enrollment, or academic advising
•Accuracy under pressure, especially about cost and outcomes
•Comfort saying no to a prospective student who is not a fit
•Must clear a background check as required by our policy and state law
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
This is the highest-risk configuration of the advisor role, for one reason. If
your institution participates in Title IV federal student aid, the incentive
compensation ban at 34 CFR 668.14(b)(22) prohibits any commission, bonus, or
other incentive payment based in any part, directly or indirectly, on success in
securing enrollments or the award of financial aid, paid to anyone engaged in
student recruitment or admission activity. A combined enrollment and advising
role is squarely inside that definition, so pay a fixed salary and never tie the
bonus to enrollment counts, applications, or starts. Merit adjustments are
permitted only when they are not based in any part on enrollment success.
Separately, marketing claims about outcomes, cost, and job placement are
regulated by the Federal Trade Commission and by state consumer protection law,
so write the script and keep it accurate. Classify on duties: the exemption
depends on academic administrative work, not on the title. This is general
information, not legal advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Organization Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per year, fixed salary, [benefits summary]
To apply, email __ with your resume.
Template 6: Part-Time or Seasonal Academic Advisor
For registration and orientation surges, with hourly classification, hour tracking, and per-workweek overtime calculation spelled out. Session-delivery roles belong in the tutor templates instead.
Part-Time or Seasonal Academic Advisor Job Description
PART-TIME OR SEASONAL ACADEMIC ADVISOR JOB DESCRIPTION
Institution: __ ([City, State])
Reports to: [Director of Advising / Program Manager]
Employment type: Part-time, [hours] per week, or seasonal during [registration
Advising volume at [Institution Name] is seasonal: it triples during
registration and orientation and thins out mid-term. Rather than overstaff for
the peak, we keep a small group of part-time advisors who work defined hours
during [periods].
POSITION SUMMARY
The Part-Time Academic Advisor handles scheduled advising appointments during
peak periods, covers walk-in hours, and completes assigned follow-up outreach
within a set weekly hour commitment.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
•Hold [number] advising appointments per shift during [periods]
•Cover walk-in advising hours on [days and times]
•Help students build schedules and resolve registration holds
•Complete assigned outreach to [at-risk / undeclared / returning] students
•Record every appointment in [student information system] the same day
•Escalate policy exceptions and complex cases to a full-time advisor
•Attend [orientation / training] before the first advising shift
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
•[Bachelor's degree / current graduate enrollment: set your bar]
•Familiarity with degree requirements and registration systems
•Reliable availability during [registration weeks and orientation]
•Clear, accurate documentation habits
•Must clear a background check as required by our policy and state law
CLASSIFICATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTE
Treat this role as non-exempt: hourly and entitled to overtime past 40 hours in
a week. Part-time status has nothing to do with exempt status. An exemption
depends on primary duty and, for the academic administrative exemption, on
salary basis, which an hourly appointment does not satisfy. Two practical
consequences during peak weeks. Track all hours worked, including required
training, mandatory meetings, and evening or weekend outreach done from a
personal phone. Do not average across weeks: overtime is calculated per
workweek, so 30 hours one week and 50 the next still produces 10 hours of
overtime. If your state has daily overtime, meal and rest break, or predictive
scheduling rules, apply those on top. This is general information, not legal
advice.
EEO STATEMENT
[Institution Name] is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable
accommodations for the essential functions of this role.
COMPENSATION AND HOW TO APPLY
Compensation: $_ per hour, [overtime policy], [seasonal dates]
To apply, email __ with your resume and availability.
Overtime and the Academic Administrative Exemption
An academic advisor is evaluated under the administrative exemption, not the teaching exemption, and that distinction decides whether a salary test applies. Teachers have no salary level or salary basis test at all. Advisors do.
The federal regulation on educational establishments names academic counselors who administer testing programs, assist students with academic problems, and advise students concerning degree requirements as performing academic administrative functions. The Department of Labor restates the same point in its guidance on overtime pay at higher education institutions, adding that the duties test turns on actual duties rather than the job title.
The academic administrative exemption is the right test
The federal regulation on educational establishments describes employees whose primary duty is academic administrative work: administering testing programs, assisting students with academic problems, and advising students concerning degree requirements. Academic counselors are given as the example, in those words. That is the test an advisor is measured against, not the teaching exemption. The regulation also excludes work that sits outside academic instruction, and it names building management, jobs relating to student health, and academic staff such as social workers, psychologists, lunch room managers, and dietitians as failing the academic administrative test. Read the exclusion list before you assume the exemption applies, and write the duties in the posting the way you will describe them if someone asks two years from now. This is general information, not legal advice.
There is a second salary path most employers never use
The academic administrative exemption offers an alternative most small institutions do not know about. Instead of meeting the standard weekly salary level, an academic administrative employee can be paid on a salary basis at least equal to the entrance salary for teachers at the same educational establishment. That is unusual, and it can matter at a school whose starting teacher salary sits below the federal threshold, because the school then has a lawful path to an exempt advisor at teacher-equivalent pay. It cuts the other way too: if your entrance teacher salary is high, that becomes the floor for this exemption at your institution. Document which path you are using and why, in writing, when you set the salary. This is general information, not legal advice.
Never pay an advisor per enrollment at a Title IV school
If your institution participates in Title IV federal student aid, the incentive compensation ban at 34 CFR 668.14(b)(22) prohibits any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based in any part, directly or indirectly, on success in securing enrollments or the award of financial aid, paid to any person engaged in student recruitment or admission activity or in decisions about Title IV funds. A pure academic advisor who never touches recruitment is outside the ban. A combined enrollment and advising role is inside it. Merit adjustments are permitted only where they are not based in any part on enrollment success, which rules out bonus formulas built on starts, applications, or conversion rates. The safe design is a fixed salary, and the posting should say so. This is general information, not legal advice.
Student records are the quiet part of the job
Advisors touch grades, disciplinary notes, disability documentation, and financial aid status, which is exactly the material the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act governs at any institution receiving federal funds. School officials get access only where they have a legitimate educational interest, and the institution has to use reasonable methods to limit access to those records. Practically that means role-based permissions in the student information system, a written definition of school official and legitimate educational interest in your annual notice, a signed confidentiality acknowledgment during onboarding, and a documented offboarding step that removes access the day someone leaves. Private schools outside federal funding are not bound by FERPA, but families expect the same discipline and your enrollment contract may promise it. This is general information, not legal advice.
The current white-collar salary threshold is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year, after the 2024 Department of Labor rule was vacated and later formally rescinded. Anyone outside the exemption needs hours tracked and overtime paid past forty in a week.
Schools and training providers are covered enterprises under the Fair Labor Standards Act regardless of size, so a small headcount does not put you outside the rules. If you are unsure which side a role falls on, our breakdown of exempt versus non-exempt classification works through the tests in order.
Part-Time Does Not Mean Exempt
The most common classification error in small education employers is treating a part-time advisor as exempt because the full-time version of the role is. An exemption requires a salary basis, and an hourly appointment does not satisfy it. Overtime is also calculated per workweek and never averaged, so 30 hours during a quiet week and 50 hours during registration still produces 10 hours of overtime. Track hours from the first shift, including required training, mandatory meetings, and evening outreach done from a personal phone.
Why You Cannot Pay an Advisor Per Enrollment
If your institution participates in Title IV federal student aid and the advisor touches recruitment or admissions, enrollment-based pay is prohibited outright. The incentive compensation ban at 34 CFR 668.14(b)(22) bars any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based in any part, directly or indirectly, on success in securing enrollments or the award of financial aid.
The reach of that rule surprises small schools. It applies to anyone engaged in student recruitment or admission activity or in decisions about Title IV funds, which captures the combined enrollment and advising role that small career schools create naturally when one person is doing everything. Merit adjustments survive only where they are not based in any part on enrollment success.
Pay design
Allowed at a Title IV institution?
What to write in the posting
Fixed annual salary
Yes
State the salary or a good-faith range, with no enrollment language
Bonus tied to starts or applications
No
Remove it; rebuild the target around completion or service quality
Commission per enrolled student
No
Never appears in a compliant posting
Merit increase on performance review
Yes, if enrollment success plays no part
Describe the review criteria without enrollment metrics
Bonus tied to student completion or retention
Generally outside the ban, but document the basis carefully
Define the metric precisely and keep recruitment out of it
Profit sharing to a recruitment-facing employee
No
Exclude anyone in recruitment or admissions from the plan
A pure academic advisor who never touches recruitment sits outside the ban entirely, which is one practical argument for splitting the roles as soon as headcount allows. Where you cannot split them, pay a fixed salary, say so in the posting, and keep the reasoning in writing.
Student Records and Confidentiality
Advisors handle grades, probation status, disability documentation, and financial aid detail, which makes records privacy a core duty rather than a footnote. At any institution receiving federal funds those records fall under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The Department of Education explains in its FERPA guidance that school officials may access education records only where they have a legitimate educational interest, and that institutions must use reasonable methods to limit access accordingly. For an advisor that translates into role-based permissions in the student information system rather than blanket access, plus a written definition of school official in your annual notice.
Private schools operating outside federal funding are not bound by FERPA, but families assume the same discipline and your enrollment contract may promise it. Either way the operational answer is identical: a signed confidentiality acknowledgment at onboarding, permissions scoped to caseload, and access removed the day someone leaves. Our background check guide covers the screening side of the same problem.
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There is no standalone Bureau of Labor Statistics occupation for academic advisor. The title sits inside educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors, code 21-1012, which also contains K-12 guidance counselors and career counselors, so the national median blends several distinct jobs and should be read as a reference point rather than a target.
National Wage Data for the Occupation Containing Academic Advisor
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the national median annual wage for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors was $64,330, about $30.93 per hour. The spread runs from $45,020 at the 10th percentile to $104,770 at the 90th (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS).
Percentile
Annual (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Hourly
How to read it as a small employer
10th
$45,020
$21.65
Entry advisor, often the first one a small program hires
25th
$51,270
$24.65
A realistic starting band for a first full-time advisor
50th (median)
$64,330
$30.93
Mid-career advisor carrying a full caseload independently
75th
$82,870
$39.84
Senior advisor owning a program or a specialized population
90th
$104,770
$50.37
Lead or director territory at a larger institution
Because the occupation is broad, the more useful exercise is bounding the number against adjacent classifications. The table below gives the nearest ones, all from the same survey vintage, so you can place your role between a session-delivery job and an administrative one.
Nearest BLS classification
National median (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
Why it matters for your posting
Educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors (21-1012)
$64,330 per year
The occupation that contains academic advisor; blends several roles
Instructional coordinators (25-9031)
$77,440 per year
The comparison when the advisor also owns curriculum or program design
Education administrators, postsecondary (11-9033)
$104,590 per year
Where a director of advising sits, not an individual advisor
Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary (11-9032)
$105,870 per year
Internal equity reference at a school, not a target for this role
Self-enrichment teachers (25-3021)
$46,800 per year
Closer to a small enrichment, test-prep, or training employer
Tutors (25-3041)
$43,350 per year
The floor when the role is mostly scheduled session delivery
Set the number against comparable local programs rather than the national median, check it against what you pay experienced instructors for internal equity, and publish a good-faith range wherever pay transparency laws apply. At a school using the teacher-entrance-salary path to the exemption, that entrance salary is also your floor.
Hiring Advisors Without an HR Department
Advisor hiring at small institutions fails in three predictable places: the scope is understated, the classification is decided by the title, and the onboarding paperwork arrives all at once before term starts. Each has a concrete fix.
You are hiring one advisor to do what a university splits across a department
At a large institution, advising, registration, retention outreach, transfer credit evaluation, and accommodations coordination sit with different people in different offices. At a small college, a trade school, or a training company, one person does all of it, and the posting has to admit that. Candidates from a large institution read a generic advisor posting and picture the job they already have, then discover in month two that nobody else evaluates transfer credit. That is how a hire fails at nine months for reasons that were knowable on day one. Write the full duty list, state the caseload as a number, and say plainly how many advisors are on the team. A candidate who wants that scope exists, and the specific posting is what finds them.
The classification question gets answered by the job title instead of the duties
Advisor sounds professional, so the role gets a salary and an exempt box gets checked, and nobody revisits it. That is the single most common wage and hour mistake in small education employers. The academic administrative exemption turns on primary duty and on a salary basis, and a role built around scheduling appointments, clearing holds, entering notes, and covering a front desk does not meet it regardless of the title. Part-time does not mean exempt either. Decide the classification before you write the posting, put it in the posting, and if the answer is non-exempt, build the hour tracking on day one rather than reconstructing it from memory during an audit. Getting this right at the posting stage costs nothing; getting it wrong accrues back pay quietly for years.
The paperwork arrives in a seasonal burst and lives in six different places
Education hiring is calendar-driven, so onboarding lands in a compressed window before term starts: signed offers, background check clearances, fingerprint receipts where required, confidentiality and student records acknowledgments, student information system access requests, handbook sign-offs, and mandated reporter training for school staff. FirstHR was built for exactly that burst. The onboarding wizard runs the same sequence for every new advisor, e-signature handles the offer and the policy acknowledgments, document management stores clearances and certifications against each employee profile with renewal dates attached, and training modules cover records privacy and reporting orientation before the first advising appointment. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR. Note that FirstHR is an onboarding and HR platform, not a payroll provider.
Once the offer is signed, the work becomes a repeatable onboarding checklist, and the rest of our hiring library sits in the hiring templates hub if you are staffing more than one role this season.
Key Takeaways
An academic advisor is evaluated under the academic administrative exemption, not the teaching exemption, so a salary test applies where it would not for a teacher.
The exemption offers a second salary path most small institutions never use: a salary basis at least equal to the entrance salary for teachers at the same educational establishment.
An advisor whose primary duty is scheduling, holds, data entry, or outreach volume is non-exempt and owed overtime, and part-time status never creates an exemption by itself.
At Title IV institutions, the incentive compensation ban at 34 CFR 668.14(b)(22) prohibits enrollment-based bonuses for anyone touching recruitment or admissions, so pay a fixed salary.
The national median for the occupation containing academic advisor is $64,330 (BLS OEWS, May 2025), with a spread from $45,020 to $104,770 across percentiles.
State the caseload as a number and the team size honestly, because that single line is what separates a posting that fits your institution from one copied off a university job family matrix.
Education hiring lands in bursts before term starts, and the paperwork lands with it. FirstHR runs the same onboarding sequence for every new advisor, with e-signature for offers and confidentiality acknowledgments, document storage for clearances and certifications, and renewal dates tracked so nothing expires quietly. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an academic advisor do?
An academic advisor guides an assigned caseload of students through degree or program requirements: course selection, registration, transfer credit, progress monitoring, and graduation audits. The advisor is also the early warning system, contacting students who miss attendance thresholds, fail midterms, or fall into academic probation, and documenting that outreach. At a small institution the role absorbs work that a university splits across offices, including accommodations coordination, orientation, catalog accuracy, and retention reporting. At a career or trade school the focus narrows to attendance, satisfactory academic progress, and completion. At a bootcamp or online program the same job is usually titled student success advisor and centers on pacing and retention cases. Write the caseload as a number and the duty list in full, because the scope varies enormously between settings and candidates cannot infer yours.
Are academic advisors exempt from overtime?
Sometimes, and it depends entirely on duties rather than the title. The federal regulation covering educational establishments treats academic counselors who administer testing programs, assist students with academic problems, and advise students concerning degree requirements as performing academic administrative functions, which can support the administrative exemption. An advisor whose primary duty is scheduling appointments, clearing registration holds, entering notes, covering a front desk, or running outreach volume is doing operational work and is non-exempt: hourly and owed overtime past 40 hours in a week. Part-time status does not create an exemption, and an hourly appointment cannot satisfy the salary basis requirement. Decide the classification from the actual day before you publish the posting, state it in the posting, and if the answer is non-exempt, track hours from the first week. This is general information, not legal advice.
What salary does an academic advisor need to be exempt?
Either the standard federal salary level or, uniquely, the entrance salary for teachers at your own institution. The white-collar salary threshold is $684 per week, which is $35,568 per year, after the 2024 Department of Labor rule was vacated and formally rescinded. The academic administrative exemption adds a second path: an employee performing academic administrative functions can instead be paid on a salary basis at least equal to the entrance salary for teachers in the same educational establishment. That alternative helps schools whose starting teacher salary sits below the federal threshold, and it raises the bar at schools that pay teachers well, because their own entrance salary becomes the reference. Document which path you used when you set the number. State law may impose a higher threshold, so check your state before relying on the federal figure. This is general information, not legal advice.
How much does an academic advisor make?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey (May 2025), the national median annual wage for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors was $64,330, about $30.93 per hour. There is no standalone BLS occupation for academic advisor: the title sits inside that broader classification alongside K-12 guidance counselors and career counselors, so the median blends several distinct jobs. The percentile spread is wide, from $45,020 at the 10th percentile to $104,770 at the 90th. Nearby classifications give useful bounds: instructional coordinators at $77,440, postsecondary education administrators at $104,590, self-enrichment teachers at $46,800, and tutors at $43,350. For a small institution, benchmark against comparable local programs rather than the national median, and publish a good-faith range wherever pay transparency rules apply.
Can I pay an academic advisor a bonus for enrollments?
Not if your institution participates in Title IV federal student aid and the role touches recruitment or admissions. The incentive compensation ban at 34 CFR 668.14(b)(22) prohibits any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based in any part, directly or indirectly, on success in securing enrollments or the award of financial aid, paid to any person engaged in student recruitment or admission activity or in decisions about Title IV funds. A pure academic advisor who never touches recruitment falls outside the ban, but a combined enrollment and advising role, which is common at small career schools, sits squarely inside it. Merit adjustments are permitted only where they are not based in any part on enrollment success, so bonus formulas built on starts, applications, or conversion rates are out. Design the pay as a fixed salary and say so in the posting.
What is the difference between an academic advisor and a guidance counselor?
Scope and setting. An academic advisor owns the academic path: degree or program requirements, course selection, registration, progress monitoring, and completion. A guidance counselor at a K-12 school bundles academic advising with college counseling and short-term personal support, and often carries testing coordination and records work on top. The credential expectations differ too. School counselor roles frequently call for a state credential and a master’s degree in school counseling, while academic advisor postings at colleges and training providers usually ask for a bachelor’s degree with advising or teaching experience, and a master’s degree as a preference rather than a requirement. Classification differs as well: an advisor is evaluated under the academic administrative exemption, while a teacher is evaluated under the teaching exemption, which has no salary test at all.
How do I hire an academic advisor at a small school with no HR department?
Decide three things before writing a word: the caseload number, the classification, and the salary or range. Those are the items candidates screen on, and leaving them vague costs you good applicants and wastes your interview slots. Then write the duty list in full, including the parts a large institution would split across offices, so nobody is surprised in month two. Screen for judgment rather than system familiarity, because degree audit software is learnable and the ability to tell a struggling student the truth is not. Ask for a scenario: a student two courses short of graduating with a hold and a deadline tomorrow. Check references who watched the candidate carry a caseload. Then run onboarding as a fixed checklist: signed offer, background clearance, records confidentiality acknowledgment, system access, and handbook sign-off. FirstHR handles that sequence with e-signature, document management, and renewal tracking. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
