Alaska School Counselors

The Alaska school counselor career is attracting many of the best and brightest in the educational system for a few reasons:

Reason one being the average school counselor's salary is $5,000 to $10,000 more than a teacher. In addition, funding for education is projected to be on the rise.

Governor Sarah Palin recently announced a three year school funding proposal (beginning 2008-2009). Under the proposed plan, the state of Alaska would be infusing $1 billion into the public educational system each year. She was quoted in a Dec. 7th 2007 press release:

"I believe it is critical to shift the annual debate from how much are we going to spend on education to how we can be innovative and work to improve the outcome of our education system,” said Governor Palin.

As for a second reason for attracting some of Alaska's brightest, Alaskan school counselors are in a position to apply their expertise directly when creating curriculum or when seeking to make connections with students from the elementary to secondary grade levels.

From the school year of '95-'96 to the '05-'06 school year, Alaska school counselors helped increase the number of high school graduates by 28% (according to NEA research). School counseling in Alaska has been proving its own necessity in advancing the educational process through example and Alaska's governor has obviously taken notice.

Finally, the Alaska school counseling career is highly rewarding and emotionally charged. As an Alaska school counselor, you will be endowed with the responsibility of breaking down learning barriers for all students. Unlike teachers, you will have the opportunity to individually affect the lives of those who need your help the most.

Contact schools offering school counseling or mental health counseling programs and learn how you can begin a career as an Alaska School Counselor.

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**Some states require completion of a state-approved School Counselor preparation program from a regionally accredited institution in order to be licensed as a school counselor. Capella University is regionally accredited and their School Counseling specialization is state-approved by the Arizona Department of Education. We recommend that you follow up with your state Department of Education (DOE) to determine whether Capella's Arizona- approved School Counseling specialization meets your state's licensure requirements.