Academic Advisor Salary

College salary benchmarks and university hiring pay, with source dates.

BLS higher-education medians are $58,870 public and $58,720 private (May 2025). These cover counselors and advisors together, not academic advisors alone. BLS source

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Gross contract pay ($)

Contract months

Schedule and benchmark

Payments per contract

Actual hours per week

Paid weeks in contract

Appointment FTE (%)

BLS comparison group

Gross pay only. Excludes taxes, benefits and overtime. A shorter contract is not a full year of earnings.

Academic advisor hiring pay: three university examples

Employer postings reviewed September 7, 2026. These examples are not a representative salary survey, a ranking of states, or a list of confirmed open vacancies. Posting status and pay may change.

Advertised hiring compensation, distinct from classification bands
University and role	Advertised hiring pay	Context
University of Texas at Dallas Academic Advisor II Richardson, Texas Posted August 21, 2026	$42,440 to $50,000 per year	Full-time; pay is issued monthly. The advertised range depends on qualifications.
University of Rhode Island Academic Advisor Kingston, Rhode Island Posted June 18, 2026	$60,000 to $70,000 per year	Full-time, calendar-year appointment. Anticipated hiring range, not a state or national average.
San Jose State University Academic Advisor (Student Services Professional II) San Jose, California Posted June 18, 2026	$5,250 per month $63,000 over 12 paid months (arithmetic equivalent).	Anticipated hiring pay is $5,250 per month. The wider $5,083-$7,228 monthly classification band is not the advertised starting range.

The distinction matters at San Jose State: the posting anticipates $5,250 a month in hiring pay, while the classification extends to $7,228. Treating the band maximum as an expected starting offer would overstate the posting.

What the BLS numbers actually measure

O*NET lists Academic Advisor within SOC 21-1012: Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors. The category also includes school and career counselors. Its all-industry median therefore does not isolate college academic advising.

Public higher educationCounselors and advisors, May 2025: $58,870
Private higher educationCounselors and advisors, May 2025: $58,720
All industriesCounselors and advisors, May 2025: $64,330

Higher education includes junior colleges, colleges, universities and professional schools. Public means state and local institutions. The national 10th and 90th percentile thresholds are $45,020 and $104,770. These are distribution points for the wider occupation, not entry-level and senior-advisor pay bands. Source: BLS pay table, updated August 27, 2026.

Is a master's degree required?

Not for every academic advisor position. School-counselor licensing and a university's advising qualifications are not interchangeable. The three employer examples specify different routes:

University of Texas at Dallas: Bachelor's degree plus two years of related experience, or a master's degree.
University of Rhode Island: Master's plus two years of advising experience, or bachelor's plus five years of qualifying advising experience.
San Jose State University: Relevant bachelor's-level education and two years of related professional experience; a relevant master's can replace one year of experience.

What to compare before accepting an offer

Contract length and FTE: $45,000 for nine months at full time is $5,000 per contract month. Its $60,000 twelve-month equivalent is not a promise of summer pay.
Hiring range versus classification: ask which part of the published band is funded for this vacancy, how placement is determined, and whether later increases are contractual or discretionary.
Work and benefits: compare the expected caseload, evening registration events, required on-campus days, employee insurance cost, retirement contributions, paid leave and tuition benefits. Do not assume benefits are spendable salary.
Relevant evidence: connect experience with the posted duties, such as degree audits, student records, transfer advising and case management. A credential or an extra year of service does not guarantee a fixed percentage raise.

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Academic Advisor Salary by City

Published city-level wage and take-home pay guides for Academic Advisor.

Sources, calculation and correction

Salary observations come from the linked BLS publication and the three employer postings, with their original reference periods and pay units retained. We do not average the three advertisements into a national salary or multiply national wages by cost-of-living factors to create local observations.

Offer arithmetic: pay per payment = contract pay / payment count; hourly equivalent = contract pay / (paid weeks x actual weekly hours). The comparison rate = contract pay x (12 / contract months) x (100 / FTE percentage). A difference from a broad median does not establish fair pay for a particular employer, location or individual.

Correction, September 7, 2026: this page previously displayed a $50,000 advisor median, modeled local pay and experience tiers without a traceable occupation-specific source. Those figures and the implied percentile rankings have been removed from this page.

Sources checked September 7, 2026. Compensation is gross USD. Employer examples may remain useful as dated evidence after recruiting closes.