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Boston Career Explorer

Community and Social Service

Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors

Advise and assist students and provide educational and vocational guidance services.

Also called: Academic Advisor, Academic Counselor, Admissions Counselor, Career Counselor, College Counselor, Elementary School Counselor

Compare with my current job (Marriage and Family Therapists)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$80,760
$38.83/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
8,170
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+6.8%
1,000 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Master's degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$60,390$66,280$80,760$102,500$122,910

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
  • Counsel students regarding educational issues, such as course and program selection, class scheduling and registration, school adjustment, truancy, study habits, and career planning.
  • Provide crisis intervention to students when difficult situations occur at schools.
  • Counsel individuals or groups to help them understand and overcome personal, social, or behavioral problems affecting their educational or vocational situations.
  • Review transcripts to ensure that students meet graduation or college entrance requirements, and write letters of recommendation.
  • Prepare students for later educational experiences by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure68 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 71
  • Language-model AIOE 81
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 53

Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure is higher for this job, and some AI use is already seen. AI tools can help with student records, transcript reviews, and drafting letters. Counseling students, helping with personal problems, and crisis response rely on trust and judgment from people.

Likely to change

  • Keeping student records up to date
  • Reviewing transcripts and drafting letters

Still relies on people

  • Counseling students through personal challenges
  • Responding to crises at school

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Occupational Therapists

    Helping people set realistic goals and keeping records carries over. It pays about $101,940 in Boston with 11.6% projected growth; a master's degree is typical.

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

1 program near Boston (plus 15 graduate)

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

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