Georgia School Counselor: Salary, Jobs and Programs
Georgia school counselors earn a median of $63,720 a year (BLS, May 2025), just under the national median of $64,330. Pay runs from $42,040 at the 10th percentile to $101,880 at the 90th. The state projects 990 openings a year through 2034. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) issues certification, and requirements vary by pathway.
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Georgia’s 180 county and city school systems hire counselors at every level, from rural elementary schools in the south of the state to large high schools in metro Atlanta. Pay is close to the national median, the state expects nearly 1,000 openings a year, and 12 universities offer CACREP-accredited school counseling programs.
What School Counselors Do in Georgia
Think about a 10th grader who’s been flagged by three teachers in two weeks. Grades slipping. Quieter than usual. Not turning in work. A school counselor connects those dots, sitting down with the student to figure out whether it’s academic pressure, something happening at home, or something that needs a referral to outside support. That’s a big part of the job.
Georgia school counselors build and run school counseling programs around three areas: academic development, career exploration, and social-emotional support. In practice, that means running college application workshops for seniors one week, helping a middle schooler work through a conflict with a classmate the next, and meeting with a parent who’s worried about their child’s anxiety in between.
At the elementary level, counselors focus on social skills and spotting students who need early academic or emotional support. By high school, the work shifts toward life after graduation: building four-year plans, connecting students with scholarship resources, and helping them weigh college against going straight into the workforce.
Georgia counselors work within the ASCA National Model, which organizes school counseling programs around direct student services and schoolwide support. The state also tracks school performance through the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI), and counselors can use that data to spot where students need more help.
Job Outlook in Georgia
Georgia has one of the stronger outlooks for this occupation on current projections. Projections Central expects employment of educational, guidance, school, and vocational counselors in Georgia to grow from 10,840 to 11,960 between 2024 and 2034, an increase of 10.3%. Across the U.S., the same 2024-2034 projections show 3.5% growth.
For a job seeker, the bigger number is openings. Georgia is projected to average about 990 openings a year over that period. Only about 110 of those come from new positions each year. The rest open up as counselors retire, move into other roles, or leave the field.
Openings don’t land evenly. Hiring depends on district budgets and enrollment, so some districts post far more positions than others. Caseloads vary just as much, so ask about student-to-counselor ratios when you interview.
School Counselor Salary in Georgia
Georgia school counselors earned a median of $63,720 in May 2025, $610 below the national median of $64,330. BLS reports these figures for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors, a group that also includes college advisors and career counselors, so treat them as a close estimate for K-12 roles rather than an exact one.
Location matters. Metro Atlanta has more than half of the state’s 11,460 jobs in this category and a median pay of $67,730. Savannah and Macon sit closer to $57,000.
| Percentile | Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th | $42,040 |
| 25th | $49,000 |
| Median (50th) | $63,720 |
| 75th | $79,140 |
| 90th | $101,880 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, occupation 21-1012.
| Metro Area | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| North Georgia (nonmetro) | $75,050* |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $67,730 |
| Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | $62,600 |
| Columbus, GA-AL | $59,120 |
| Macon-Bibb County, GA | $57,790 |
| Savannah, GA | $57,320 |
*Nonmetro estimates cover a group of rural counties and can shift more from year to year than metro figures. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, occupation 21-1012.
CACREP-Accredited School Counseling Programs in Georgia
Twelve Georgia universities hold CACREP accreditation for a school counseling program. The table lists 11 of them by size, which does not measure quality. The 12th is named below it.
| Institution | City | Degree | Accredited Through | Master’s Graduates (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia State University | Atlanta | M.Ed. | October 31, 2027 | 39 |
| University of West Georgia | Carrollton | M.Ed. | March 31, 2032 | 39 |
| Augusta University | Augusta | M.Ed. | October 31, 2031 | 29 |
| Albany State University | Albany | M.Ed. | October 31, 2031 | 27 |
| University of Georgia | Athens | M.Ed./Ed.S. | March 31, 2027 | 23 |
| Columbus State University | Columbus | M.Ed. | April 30, 2034 | 18 |
| Georgia Southern University | Statesboro | M.Ed. | March 31, 2027 | 18 |
| Fort Valley State University | Fort Valley | M.S.Ed. | March 31, 2030 | 17 |
| Valdosta State University | Valdosta | M.Ed. | April 30, 2033 | 16 |
| Mercer University | Atlanta | M.S. | March 31, 2033 | 15 |
| Clark Atlanta University | Atlanta | M.A. | October 31, 2027 | 3 |
Thomas University in Thomasville is also CACREP-accredited, through October 31, 2032. It does not report graduates under the federal code used here, so it is listed separately rather than placed in the size order.
Four programs carry the CACREP status Accredited (Reaffirmation in Process): Georgia State University and Clark Atlanta University, with cycles ending October 31, 2027, and Georgia Southern University and the University of Georgia, with cycles ending March 31, 2027. Confirm their current status on the CACREP register before you apply.
Columbus State University states that its school counseling program is currently approved only for students who are physically present in Georgia or Alabama, and that practicum and internship placements must be completed in those two states. Students living elsewhere who intend to be certified in Georgia or Alabama may sign an attestation to be considered for enrollment.
CACREP accreditation does not automatically make you eligible for Georgia school counselor certification. Confirm that your program and certification pathway meet GaPSC requirements.
How Georgia funds school counselors
Georgia’s school funding formula, Quality Basic Education (QBE), funds school counselors at a ratio of 1:450. That’s a funding ratio, not a guaranteed caseload for any individual counselor. In January 2025, the Georgia Department of Education told state budget officials that 38 school systems were over the 1:450 ratio. Actual counselor caseloads vary by school and district.
How this table was built. CACREP accredits every program here as a School Counseling program, verified against the CACREP register on September 30, 2026. Any program whose CACREP status shows a teach-out, closure, show-cause, or withdrawal is excluded, because a reader cannot reliably enroll in it. Programs are ordered by the number of master’s graduates each university reported to the federal IPEDS survey for 2023 under CIP code 13.1101, which measures size, not quality. That count covers the whole university, so a school running more than one school counseling master’s reports them together, and a low count can mean some graduates are reported under a different code. Treat the order as a rough guide to size rather than a ranking. Programs with the same count are listed alphabetically. Where a university reports no graduates under that code, we name it below the table rather than place it in the order. CACREP accreditation is not the same as state approval: check the Georgia requirements for school counselor certification before you enroll.
- Pay close to the national median: Georgia’s median was $63,720 in May 2025, and metro Atlanta’s was $67,730.
- Openings, not just growth: The state projects about 990 openings a year, and employment is projected to grow 10.3% from 2024 to 2034.
- Twelve accredited programs: Check each program’s CACREP cycle end date and enrollment rules before you apply.
- Work at every grade level: Georgia counselors support students academically, socially, and emotionally from pre-K through 12th grade.
- Certification depends on your route: GaPSC issues Georgia school counselor certification. Your preparation and certification pathway determine whether you need supervised field experience and applicable Georgia certification assessments, including the GACE School Counseling content assessment when required.
Found a program that fits? Next, map the full path to Georgia certification, from your education and supervised experience to Georgia’s certification and assessment requirements.
