Higher Education Administrator
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Higher Education Administrator works in a variety of specialized areas within a college or university, including student admissions and services, academic departments or campus maintenance and development. Manages student academic records (registrar), leads a college or school within a university system (academic dean), or serves as chief academic officer (provost).
Job Outlook
There were 618 Higher Education Administrator job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 16823 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the College / University Administrator industry, which includes the Higher Education Administrator career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Higher Education Administrator jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $112,367.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $107,052.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Higher Education Administrator postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $88,700.
Education and Experience
Posted Higher Education Administrator jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 43.66% |
| Master's Degree | 38.01% |
| Doctoral Degree | 13.42% |
| Other | 10.37% |
Posted Higher Education Administrator jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 29.69% |
| 3 to 5 years | 54.56% |
| 6 to 8 years | 10.91% |
| 9+ years | 4.84% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Higher Education Administrator positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (46.48%)
- Leadership (41.68%)
- Management (35.43%)
- Planning (26.33%)
- Operations (26.21%)
- Coordinating (22.88%)
- Teaching (22.64%)
- Research (22.42%)
- Writing (20.12%)
- Interpersonal Communications (16.64%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Administrative Support (46.21%)
- Student Services (14.72%)
- Academic Affairs (20.61%)
- Curriculum Development (18.82%)
- Project Management (14.36%)
- Marketing (13.2%)
- Student Engagement (4.19%)
- Higher Education (17.13%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Higher Education Administrator skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Director of Student Engagement
- Faculty Affairs Coordinator
- Assistant Director of Residence Life
- Director of Residence Life
- Director of Academic Services
- Department Head
- Director of Academic Affairs
- Program Manager
- Education Manager
- Director of Career and Technical Education
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Higher Education Program Coordinator
- Higher Education Associate Dean
- Campus Director
- Dean (General)
- Higher Education Program Director
- Elementary and Secondary School Administrator (General)
- Dean of Academic Affairs
- Director of Student Affairs
- Academic / Guidance Counselor
- Dean of Students
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Higher Education Administrator jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Gqr (191)
- Pennsylvania State University (153)
- University of Chicago (118)
- Marriott International (103)
- Harvard University (83)
- State of Minnesota (72)
- Global Lending Services (71)
- University of California (69)
- KinderCare Education (66)
- HCA Healthcare (62)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina (43)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (34)
- North Carolina State University (27)
- Wake Forest University (20)
- North Carolina A & T State University (19)
- Atrium Health Floyd (16)
- North Carolina State Of (16)
- Atrium Health (15)
- Appalachian State University (13)
- North Carolina Central University (12)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Adult and Community College Education Master's Degrees
- College Counseling and Student Development Master's Degrees
- Community College Leadership Doctoral Degrees
- Educational Leadership Doctoral Degrees
- Teaching and Learning Statistics and Data Science Graduate Certificates
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.