College Administrators

Employers

Approximately 216,400 college administrators are employed in the United States. Administrators are needed all across the country to run colleges and universities. Job opportunities exist at public and private institutions, community colleges, and universities both large and small. In a smaller college, an administrator may run more than one department. There are more job openings for administrators in universities serving large student bodies. In 2023, about 78 percent of postsecondary education administrators worked for colleges, universities, and professional schools, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Eleven percent worked for local and state junior colleges.

Starting Out

There are several different types of entry-level positions available in the typical college administrative office. If you can gain part-time work or an internship in admissions or another office while you are still in school, you will have a great advantage when seeking work in this field after graduation. Any other experience in an administrative or managerial position that involves working with people or with computerized data is also helpful. Entry-level positions often involve filing, data processing, and updating records or charts. You might also move into a position as an administrator after working as a college professor. Deans in colleges and universities have usually worked many years as tenured professors.

The department of human resources in most colleges and universities maintains a listing of job openings at the institution and will often advertise the positions nationally. The Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com) is a newspaper with national job listings. The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR) also maintains a job list at its Web site, https://www.cupahr.org/jobline.