Academic Administrator: The Career and the Path

Running an academic unit: programme director, department chair, associate dean, dean.

Median

$104,590

Middle half

$80,870–$144,370

Top 10%

$215,620

Employed

180,470

What Does an Academic Administrator Do?

Running an academic unit: programme director, department chair, associate dean, dean.

Academic administration is where a terminal degree stops being optional. Programme director and dean postings in health sciences commonly screen for a doctorate, which makes this one of the clearest cases where a DHSc changes what you are eligible for rather than just improving your odds.

How Much Does an Academic Administrator Make?

The national median is $104,590. The middle half of the occupation earns between $80,870 and $144,370, and the published range runs from $64,560 to $215,620. Full state-by-state figures are on the academic administrator salary page.

Job Outlook for Education Administrators, Postsecondary

The Department of Labor projects 1% to 2% growth for this occupation over 2024 to 2034, which it labels slower than average, against 15,100 projected openings across the period. Openings come from people leaving the occupation as well as from new posts, so that second figure describes your odds of finding a job better than the growth rate does.

This is the slowest-growing occupation on this site, and it is also the one a DHSc most directly targets. That combination is worth sitting with before you enrol. The openings are real, but they come mostly from turnover rather than from the sector adding posts.

Pay runs from $64,560 at the tenth percentile to $215,620 at the ninetieth, with a median of $104,590. The full spread and pay in every state sit on the salary page.

Where Education Administrators, Postsecondary Work

The eight states holding the most of these jobs, out of 180,470 nationally. This is not the same list as the eight that pay best.

How a DHSc Degree Fits an Academic Administrator Career

Every program on our ranked list is built for people already working in health care, so the realistic sequence is not degree then job. It is job, then degree alongside it, then the move. That is why almost all of these programs are online and part-time, and why their published timelines already assume you are employed throughout.

Before committing, do the check in our guide to whether a DHSc is worth it: find three current postings for this role and see whether they require a doctorate, prefer one, or never mention it. That answer is worth more than any ranking.

DHSc Concentrations That Point at This Career

These programs publish a concentration whose own name points at this kind of work. The track you pick at entry usually decides what your applied project is about, so choose on the track rather than on the program's headline.

• Radford: Higher education
• East Stroudsburg: Advanced Research Administration

Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming an Academic Administrator

Careers Related to Academic Administrator

• Medical and Health Services Managers
• Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary
• Health Education Specialists
• What every DHSc career pays