OVERVIEW
What is a Director of Admissions?
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A school鈥檚 director of admissions maintains three core job duties, which largely define the role itself: recruit new students, evaluate potential students, and manage the comprehensive admissions process. They will also often serve as a point of contact for newly enrolled students, as a source of both information and comfort when needed.
Anyone fulfilling the director of admissions position is also responsible for deciding the best ways to appropriately market the school to potential new students. They will play a heavy role in designing informational brochures and pamphlets, will speak about on- and off-campus student life, and will maintain familiarity with all school curriculums to answer student questions about the quality of education that the school offers.
While the director of admissions role at a college or university is usually attainable with a bachelor鈥檚 degree, the strongest candidates for hire typically also hold a master鈥檚 degree in a related educational field.
RESPONSIBILITIES
What Does a Director of Admissions Do?
The daily duties of a director of admissions will vary and are usually dependent on the academic calendar. The individual job responsibilities of a director of admissions can include:
- Student recruitment efforts.听This includes reaching out to and following up with students who demonstrate an interest in a particular school.
- Attending recruitment engagements.听This includes career fairs and college fairs that inform students about the value of an education from their academic institution.
- Reviewing applications of potential candidates.听This includes GPAs, extracurricular activities, and any other factors that help a director of admissions evaluate a student鈥檚 potential contributions to a school.
- Enhancing the admissions process.听This entails independently evaluating all of the steps the admissions office currently completes to bring in new students and optimizing the system to eliminate wasted time, money, or resources.
- Marketing development.听Finalizing all marketing brochures, pamphlets, videos, social media graphics, and any other materials responsible for school promotion.
- Student communication.听Maintaining contact with students throughout the recruitment process and even after acceptance, to ensure they enjoy a successful, smooth beginning to their academic careers.
A director of admissions must retain a close, personal relationship not only with the admissions office but with all marketable aspects of the school itself. They must remain continually familiar with the best features of student life, on- and off-campus activity, academic curriculums, extracurricular activities, school athletics programs, sponsored internship opportunities, and any other attractive feature the school might offer.
These job responsibilities and others can quickly fill the calendar of a director of admissions, no matter the time of year.
EDUCATION & BEST DEGREES
What Education Does a Director of Admissions Need?
As a position at an institute of higher learning, it鈥檚 no surprise that the role of admissions director will require secondary schooling. To be considered for a director of admissions position, candidates must first complete a bachelor鈥檚 degree in an educational field. Fortunately,听online teaching degrees听make this step an easy one to fulfill.
The strongest applicants for hire as a director of admissions often also complete a related听master鈥檚 degree in educational leadership听to further familiarize themselves with the specifics of an academic environment. Students will develop skills in curriculum development, technology use, and management, all useful once they assume a role as a director of admissions.
Best Degree for Directors of Admissions
Education
Educational Leadership 鈥� M.S.
An online master's degree for current teachers looking to move into a...
An online master's degree for current teachers looking to move into a school or district leadership position, like principal, vice principal, or administrator.
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States that do not accept this program: Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, and Minnesota.
How Much Does a Director of Admissions Make?
$68,760
The exact income of a director of admissions will vary based on several factors, including years of experience, school size, school location, and skill set. The salary of a director of admissions can average $68,760. Admissions director salaries vary widely in total range, where the lowest 10% of earners make roughly $49,000 per year, and the top 10% take home an estimated $97,000 per year.
What Is the Projected Job Growth?
4%
Expected to grow 4% from 2019 to 2029鈥攔oughly the same as the estimated growth curve for all occupations鈥攖he director of admissions position has a positive outlook for years to come.
Closely tied to enrollment rates at the university level, the future of the admissions director position is still bright. Students continue to seek secondary education at reputable educational institutions, and these institutions need to be continually able to facilitate an easy, rewarding enrollment process.
SKILLS
What Skills Does a Director of Admissions Need?
A director of admissions is expected to operate with the skill set necessary to actively recruit students, and maintain strong enrollment numbers. These individual skills can include:
- Interpersonal communication.听The ability to correspond effectively with fellow admissions team members to ensure a continually smooth enrollment process.
- Student outreach. The ability to communicate effectively with potential students, discern their desires, speak to their doubts, and pair their needs with resources at the school to help them thrive.
- Grammatical revision. The ability to appropriately revise all marketing materials to maintain a level of professional grammar, structure, spelling, and syntax.
- Public speaking.听The ability to address moderate to large groups of individuals in a welcoming tone to deliver details about a school鈥檚 features.
- Team management.听The ability to effectively manage Admissions department staff.
- Problem-solving.听The ability to effectively identify and solve any issues in student recruitment and enrollment processes.
- Data analysis.听The ability to read and recognize trends in data sets that can inform further Admissions department decisions.
These skills and others make for a successful director of admissions鈥攁 detail-oriented individual who works hard to recruit high-quality students interested in further education.
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