Director of Student Affairs
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Director of Student Affairs leads the student affairs office at a college or university. The office plans and arranges social, cultural, and recreational events and activities of various student groups, according to university policies and regulations; meets and coordinates with student and faculty groups to plan activities; evaluates programs and suggests modifications.
Job Outlook
There were 263 Director of Student Affairs job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 5693 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Higher Education Administrator industry, which includes the Director of Student Affairs career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Director of Student Affairs 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 $112,051.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $103,640.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Student Affairs postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $95,785.
Education and Experience
Posted Director of Student Affairs 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 | 59.6% |
| Master's Degree | 75.71% |
| Doctoral Degree | 14.44% |
| Other | 2.35% |
Posted Director of Student Affairs 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 | 23.63% |
| 3 to 5 years | 59.18% |
| 6 to 8 years | 13.47% |
| 9+ years | 3.72% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Student Affairs 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.
- Leadership (67.36%)
- Communication (60.97%)
- Management (45.35%)
- Planning (42.02%)
- Advising (41.74%)
- Coordinating (35.29%)
- Operations (31.95%)
- Writing (28.49%)
- Strategic Planning (25.87%)
- Interpersonal Communications (24.47%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Student Engagement (29.95%)
- Student Development Theory (8%)
- Student Services (81.51%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Support Services (7.96%)
- Student-Centred Learning (8.57%)
- Statistics (8.5%)
- Strategic Leadership (4.73%)
- Risk Management (10.12%)
- Project Management (12.38%)
- Psychology (9.14%)
- Higher Education (26.18%)
- Marketing (19.62%)
- Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act (8.48%)
- Enrollment Management (9.83%)
- Conflict Resolution (7.65%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (6.89%)
- Event Planning (14.47%)
- Case Management (6.95%)
- Social Work (8.92%)
- Mental Health (5.41%)
- Data Analysis (9.37%)
- Program Development (10.83%)
- Strategic Prioritization (3.14%)
- Student Development (23.06%)
- Higher Education Administration (15.72%)
- Student Recruitment (4.93%)
- Academic Affairs (15.39%)
- Policy Development (6.21%)
- Academic Advising (16.48%)
- Budget Management (7.5%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Student Affairs Administration (3.64%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Student Affairs skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Director of Student Engagement
- Director of Student Success
- Assistant Director of Student Involvement
- Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Director of Student Conduct
- Assistant Director of Student Affairs
- Assistant Director
- Assistant Director of Student Life
- Student Affairs Manager
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.
- Student Support Administrator
- Dean of Students
- Student Affairs Administrator
- Higher Education Program Coordinator
- Residential Services Administrator
- Higher Education Associate Dean
- Higher Education Program Director
- Campus Director
- Provost
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Student Affairs jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- University of Chicago (82)
- New York University (64)
- University of North Carolina (49)
- Pennsylvania State University (47)
- Georgetown University (43)
- Columbia University (41)
- University of Arkansas (36)
- The University of Texas at Dallas (32)
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (32)
- Indiana University-Bloomington (32)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina (45)
- Elon University (30)
- Western Carolina University (17)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (14)
- North Carolina State University (13)
- East Carolina University (12)
- Duke University (12)
- Fayetteville State University (9)
- University of North Carolina Wilmington (8)
- Appalachian State University (8)
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!
- 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.