Illinois School Counselor
School counselors in Illinois earn a median salary of $61,210 per year and work with students from PreK–12. The state projects 1,080 job openings annually through 2032. You’ll need a master’s degree in school counseling, supervised fieldwork, and an Illinois certification to practice.
- Top Picks
Featured Universities with School Counseling Programs
#1
Walden University
MS in School Counseling - General Program. Click here to contact Walden University and request information about their programs.
#2
University of Denver
Earn a Master's degree in School Counseling online from the University of Denver. Learn from doctoral-level faculty in live classes and gain experience through mock counseling and in-field training. No GRE required. Click here to contact University of Denver and request information about their programs.
#3
Campbellsville University
Online Master of Arts in Education in School Counseling Click here to contact Campbellsville University and request information about their programs.
#4
Sacred Heart University
Online Master of Arts in School Counseling Click here to contact Sacred Heart University and request information about their programs.
#5
Winthrop University
M.Ed. in Counseling Development - School Counseling Concentration Click here to contact Winthrop University and request information about their programs.
#6
Auburn University at Montgomery
Education Specialist in Counseling- School Counseling. Click here to contact Auburn University at Montgomery and request information about their programs.
#7
Butler University
Master of Science in School Counseling. Click here to contact Butler University and request information about their programs.
#8
University of West Alabama
Master of Education: School Counseling Click here to contact University of West Alabama and request information about their programs.
Illinois Links
Illinois school counselors work across every grade level, helping students navigate academics, social challenges, and life after high school. ISBE describes the role as helping students connect academic, personal, and future planning goals. In practice, that covers a lot of ground.
What School Counselors Do in Illinois
Think about a sophomore named DeShawn. He’s been showing up late, skipping advisory, and his grades in two classes just slipped from Bs to Ds. His teachers flag it. His school counselor pulls him in for a check-in. Turns out his family moved recently, he lost his after-school job, and he’s been taking the bus across town to get to school. Forty minutes later, DeShawn has a bus pass request submitted, a revised homework plan, and a follow-up appointment already on the calendar. That’s what this work looks like day to day.
Illinois school counselors serve students in three overlapping areas: academic development, college and career planning, and social-emotional support. On any given day, a counselor might lead a classroom lesson on stress management in the morning, meet one-on-one with a student considering dropping out in the afternoon, and coordinate with a teacher about a student’s accommodations before the final bell. The role shifts constantly depending on the school level and the students in front of you.
At the elementary level, school counselors spend much of their time on developmental work — classroom guidance lessons on friendship, conflict resolution, and emotional regulation. Individual and small-group counseling typically focuses on behavioral concerns and family transitions. Elementary counselors often build relationships with students early, before larger problems develop.
Middle school brings a different set of pressures. Counselors help students navigate the social complexity of adolescence, address early warning signs of anxiety and depression, and begin guiding course selection with high school in mind. The work is often reactive — students in crisis — but the most effective programs build in preventive counseling throughout the year.
At the high school level, college and career planning takes center stage. Counselors help students build application lists, complete financial aid forms, write personal statements, and understand what different post-secondary paths actually involve. Illinois’s School Profile Initiative, launched by ISBE in December 2024, gives counselors a direct role in how schools present themselves to colleges, and fewer than half of Illinois public high schools were submitting profiles before the initiative launched.
Illinois school counselors often follow frameworks aligned with the ASCA National Model, supported by the Illinois School Counselor Association, which publishes state-specific guidance for counselors across all three domains: Academic, College & Career, and Social-Emotional.
Job Outlook in Illinois
Illinois currently employs about 12,790 school counselors, according to May 2024 BLS data. The state projects 1,080 job openings per year through 2032, driven by both new positions and turnover. That’s a 6.1% growth rate over the projection period, keeping pace with most helping professions.
The demand picture is also shaped by a well-documented staffing gap. Illinois’s student-to-counselor ratio has been improving in recent years, but the state still falls well above ASCA’s recommended 250:1. That gap means counselors often carry heavy caseloads, especially at the elementary level. It also means the need for more counselors across the state is real and ongoing.
Illinois has passed legislation expanding student mental health screening requirements for students in grades 3–12, with implementation beginning in the 2027–28 school year. The law creates a more formal role for school counselors in identifying and responding to student mental health needs, and signals that the state sees counselors as central to its broader behavioral health infrastructure.
The state median salary is $61,210 per year, below the national median of $65,140. Salaries vary by district, experience, and location, with Chicago-area positions generally paying more than downstate. See the full salary breakdown below.
School Counselor Salary in Illinois
Illinois school counselors earn a median salary of $61,210 per year, compared to the national median of $65,140. Salaries spread significantly across the state, with Chicago-area positions clustered near the upper ranges and downstate rural areas at the lower end.
| Percentile | Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| 10th | $44,760 |
| 25th | $50,140 |
| Median (50th) | $61,210 |
| 75th | $81,790 |
| 90th | $109,110 |
| Metro Area | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL | $63,820 |
| Rockford, IL | $62,010 |
| Springfield, IL | $60,190 |
| Peoria, IL | $58,330 |
| East Central Illinois (nonmetro) | $57,120 |
| South Illinois (nonmetro) | $48,840 |
DePaul University Secures Funding to Increase the Number of School Counselors in Chicago Public Schools
2023 was a milestone year for counseling at DePaul University. It was then that the university was awarded a $4.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare students to become elementary school counselors within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system.
Thanks to these much-needed federal dollars, Depaul will be able to provide the funding for 96 students to earn the graduate education needed to secure positions in some of the highest need schools within the CPS.
These funds, which are offered as part of a unique program called STRIDE (School-Based Trainee Recruitment and Retention through Innovation and Diversity Enrichment), will be offered through 2028. During this time, DePaul’s graduate students in counseling will enjoy training and tuition support if they commit to working in a high-need school within the CPS. More specifically, STRIDE is focused on providing crucial school counseling services (which include evidence-based mental health services) to schools that teach low-income black and Latinx students.
This interdisciplinary grant will also allow the university to incorporate a program called Act & Adapt Intervention, an evidence-based program designed to help students better cope with mental health issues.
The Act & Adapt Intervention program will allow DePaul to translate research into action and produce school counselors who are well-prepared to handle the needs of children in high-need schools in the CPS. Graduate counseling students at DePaul will learn about this program and how to apply it in schools.
Other professionals throughout the CPS, including school counselors, social workers, and school psychologists, have been receiving training in Act & Adapt Intervention since 2017. It’s estimated that about 270 professionals in the CPS have already received this training.
This type of funding couldn’t come at a better time – rising numbers of students across the country now report mental health struggles. DePaul professor Antonio Polo completed a study in March 2023, which found that Latinx children in the CPS were nearly twice as likely as their peers to experience both anxiety and depression.
Polo and his team of graduate students regularly track progress among those using the Act & Adapt Intervention and provide feedback and reports that track outcomes. The results have shown that the majority of students who participate in the program experience significant improvement in their mental health and well-being.
CPS is the fourth-largest school district in the U.S. About three-quarters of all students within the system are from low socio-economic/low-income backgrounds.
DePaul students who are selected to participate in STRIDE will receive tuition reimbursement and a stipend while they complete their practicum and internship.
- Strong job market — Illinois projects 1,080 school counselor openings annually through 2032, with 6.1% growth over the projection period.
- Broad scope of practice — Counselors work across academic, college and career, and social-emotional domains at every grade level from PreK–12.
- Growing investment in mental health — Illinois has passed legislation expanding student mental health screening requirements for grades 3–12, with implementation set for the 2027–28 school year.
- Competitive salary with regional variation — The state median is $61,210 per year; Chicago-area positions typically run higher.
- Path to practice — You’ll need a master’s degree, supervised fieldwork, and an Illinois Professional Educator License with School Counselor Endorsement.
Ready to explore what it takes to become a school counselor in Illinois?
