Guidance Counselor Salary

A guidance counselor is an important part of the education system. As the name suggests, she guides and thereby helps the students to take informed decisions as far as their education is concerned. Among other things, a guidance counselor needs to be a very patient and an informed professional, because she is responsible for shaping the lives of young individuals (in a way). The work she does, requires varied skills which provide for several career opportunities as well. A factor that is important to understand in this field is to know about the salary that a guidance counselor will earn. Why is this important to know? Because if any of you are interested in becoming guidance counselors, then it will be imperative for you to learn how much an average guidance counselor salary range grosses.

Job Description

• They guide students in choosing a college and career after understanding their needs and capabilities.
• They help students solve their difficulties in academics.
• If psychological or aptitude testing is a part of the school's curriculum, then they will help develop and administer those tests.
• They might help students with filling out varied forms of different colleges.
• He might be required to counsel the students if they face any personal problems that is affecting their studies or the likes.
• He will also hold meetings with the parents to inform them about their ward's difficulties or progress.
• He holds several study programs that are aimed at helping the students.
• He looks after the overall development and counseling of students. Dealing with them in groups or individually.

Guidance Counselor Educational Qualifications

To be a guidance counselor, one needs to have a bachelor's degree in psychology to begin with. If psychology is not the main subject taken, then a degree in either of these will be necessary - counseling, social work, social science, behavioral science or educational policies. Once the bachelor's degree has been achieved, one will have to enroll for a master's degree in a specialized subject like counseling, or social work. Depending from one institution to the other, you might also be asked to take up further specializations that concentrate on a select area of psychology. An internship in a school, whereby you can work under a counselor will help one to get a job more easily.

Salary Range

The salary range for this profession will differ from one state to the other. But yet, we can draw an estimate of the general range.

The salary depends on a lot of variables like the institute that they work in (wherein their rules will apply), the field of work (general counseling or specialized career counseling), the specialization (a simple degree or an added work experience), the sum of working years and the sectors (elementary, private, college). All these variables will have a direct effect on the salary range. Though one can zero in on the average salary range which is about $49,450 per annum.

A guidance counselor who works in an elementary or secondary school earns about $57,800. A counselor in a college, university or other professional institutes has a salary range of about $46,800. A junior college counselor earns slightly less than the counselors who are working at professional institutes and they earn about $54,100. But those counselors who work in vocational rehabilitation centers earn a sizable portion less than the others i.e $36,730.

Similarly, a counselor working for about a year will get approximately $37,450 and a counselor who has been in the field for many years will earn about $65,120. So also, as mentioned earlier, the salary will greatly depend on the roles played, and whether he belongs to the private or government sector.

In short, this job provides immense satisfaction and the pay only increases with time. The salary provides one the opportunity to make more than a comfortable living in just a few years. Plus the respect that this job demands in society is comparable to very few others. If you want to make your mark in this field, now is the time.