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 183 Director of Student Affairs job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 4638 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the College / University Administrator industry, which includes the Director of Student Affairs career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
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 $99,195.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $92,828.
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 $85,204.
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 | 52.07% |
| Master's Degree | 66.84% |
| Doctoral Degree | 12.01% |
| Other | 3.39% |
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 | 26.02% |
| 3 to 5 years | 59.54% |
| 6 to 8 years | 11.58% |
| 9+ years | 2.86% |
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 (58.93%)
- Communication (53.08%)
- Management (39%)
- Planning (36.22%)
- Advising (32.79%)
- Coordinating (32.34%)
- Operations (28.5%)
- Writing (25.59%)
- Interpersonal Communications (19.66%)
- Research (18.76%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Student Services (87.11%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Academic Affairs (7.94%)
- Special Education (8.13%)
- Academic Advising (14.44%)
- Program Development (9.3%)
- Higher Education Administration (10.17%)
- Student Development (21%)
- Conflict Resolution (7.21%)
- Public Relations (4.6%)
- Social Work (10.83%)
- Data Collection (5.85%)
- Event Planning (8.5%)
- Finance (4.13%)
- Higher Education (17.75%)
- Risk Management (8.48%)
- Case Management (7.87%)
- Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act (8.99%)
- Marketing (12.66%)
- Project Management (9.11%)
- Psychology (9.42%)
- Student Engagement (18.34%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Student Development Theory (6.51%)
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 Services
- Director of Student Success
- Assistant Director of Student Involvement
- Director of Student Support Services
- Assistant Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life
- Assistant Director of Student Services
- Director of Student Conduct
- Director of Trio Student Support Services
- Assistant Director of Student Affairs
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 Affairs Administrator
- Student Support Administrator
- Dean of Students
- Campus Director
- Higher Education Administrator
- Academic / Guidance Counselor
- Residential Services Administrator
- Higher Education Associate Dean
- Higher Education Program Coordinator
- Higher Education Program Director
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 California (73)
- Pennsylvania State University (66)
- California State University (60)
- Indiana University (58)
- University of North Carolina (41)
- NYU (40)
- Columbia University (27)
- Texas A&M University (25)
- East Carolina University (24)
- Sam Houston State University (22)
North Carolina
- University of North Carolina (36)
- East Carolina University (13)
- North Carolina A&T State University (8)
- North Carolina State University (8)
- Elon University (7)
- Duke University (6)
- Appalachian State University (6)
- Mars Hill University (5)
- Western Carolina University (5)
- Rowan-Cabarrus Community College (4)
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
- Community College Leadership Doctoral Degrees
- Educational Leadership Doctoral Degrees
- Statistics Education 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.