The National Association for College Admission Counseling reported that “nearly half of public schools have raised caseloads of high school counselors this year, compared with last year, with the average increase exceeding 53 students.”

The number of students applying to four year colleges continues to rise which puts added pressure on school counselors.  NYTimes.com reports, “About 22 percent of students who enrolled in college in the fall of 2008 applied to at least seven colleges, up from about 19 percent from a year earlier.  Meanwhile, the average acceptance rate at four year colleges declined slightly, to 66.8 percent in 2007, the last year for which the report provided full data in that category, from 71.3 percent in 2001.”  Unfortunately applicants on waiting lists face tough odds at being accepted as less than one in three students on waiting lists in 2008 were accepted.

The rising work load among school counselors seems to be a bigger issue at public schools rather than private schools.  NYTimes.com states, “While private school counselors are also working harder, in many instances, fewer than 20 percent reported that their caseloads had increased since the last school year, compared with 45 percent of their public school counterparts.”  The states with the highest student to counselor ratios included California with 986 students per counselor, Minnesota with 799 students per counselor, Utah with 720 students per counselor and Illinois with 700 students per counselor.

With the overwhelming number of students to counsel, many school systems are currently hiring school counselors especially at the high school level.  A master’s degree is generally required to become a licensed counselor.  In addition to the large number of students per counselor, job openings exceed the number of expected graduates from counseling programs.  The duties of school counselors include advising students regarding college majors, admission requirements, entrance exams, financial aid, trade or technical schools and apprenticeship programs.  According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the median salary for school counselors is $53,750.