North Dakota School Counselor
North Dakota school counselors work with students from pre-K through 12th grade. The state projects about 60 job openings a year from 2024 to 2034, and the May 2025 median wage is $58,960. You’ll typically need a qualifying master’s, an ESPB educator license, and DPI’s SC03 credential. Two CACREP-accredited programs in the state offer a master’s in school counseling.
North Dakota Links
North Dakota employs about 840 educational, guidance and career counselors and advisors, according to May 2025 BLS data. They work everywhere from large high schools in Fargo and Bismarck to small districts where one counselor may serve every grade from kindergarten through 12th.
What School Counselors Do in North Dakota
North Dakota writes counselor staffing into state law. Under North Dakota Century Code 15.1-06-19, as the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) summarizes it, every public school district must make available one full-time equivalent (FTE) counselor for every 300 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, prorated by enrollment. In grades 7 through 12, career advisors credentialed by the Department of Career and Technical Education can cover up to one-third of that FTE requirement.
Two agencies handle the credentials. The Education Standards and Practices Board (ESPB) issues your educator’s license, and DPI issues the school counselor credential (SC03), which covers pre-K through grade 12 and remains valid only as long as that license is current. The SC03 calls for a master’s in counseling, education or a related human service field, plus state-approved school counseling coursework and a supervised internship, and ESPB may require a Praxis exam depending on your licensure pathway. Not everyone starts fully credentialed, either. A district that can’t hire a credentialed counselor may employ a licensed teacher who’s completing a state-approved program under a DPI Plan of Study, and the state also recognizes a provisional school counselor credential.
State law also protects counseling conversations. Under NDCC 31-01-06.1, a credentialed counselor appointed by a district is legally immune from disclosing privileged or confidential communication from a counseling interview, unless the student asks for it to be disclosed.
Day to day, North Dakota counselors follow the ASCA National Model, which DPI supports as the basis for school counseling programs. The model organizes the work into three domains: academic development, career development, and social/emotional development. What that looks like depends on the grade level.
Think about a seventh-grader in Minot whose grades have dropped sharply after a family disruption. His teachers notice the change but don’t have the time to dig into what’s driving it. His counselor does. She meets with him one-on-one, checks in with his teachers, and sets up a short-term academic support plan while connecting his family to community resources. That’s responsive counseling, and it’s part of the job at every grade level.
At the high school level, the work shifts toward college and career planning. A junior at a rural school near Bismarck might be the first in her family to apply to a four-year university. Her counselor helps her build an application list, work through the FAFSA, and find scholarships she wouldn’t have found on her own. In a state where many students come from small towns, that guidance can change what a student thinks is possible.
Because career advisors can count toward the staffing requirement in grades 7 through 12, high school counselors here often work closely with them. If you’re exploring school counseling master’s programs, make sure the program is state-approved before you enroll.
Job Outlook in North Dakota
North Dakota projects about 60 school counselor openings a year from 2024 to 2034. Most come from counselors retiring or leaving the field rather than new positions, since total employment is projected to rise 5.1% over the decade. That’s a little above the 3.5% projected for the occupation nationally over the same 2024-2034 period.
Districts say hiring is hard, especially outside the cities. In February 2025 testimony to the House Education Committee, the North Dakota School Boards Association pointed to a persistent shortage of qualified school counselors, particularly in rural and small districts. At the same hearing, a past president of the North Dakota School Counselor Association noted rising enrollment in the state’s school counseling master’s programs.
There’s a catch for job seekers. A first-year counselor in rural North Dakota told the committee she found few openings posted online and learned of a vacancy at her school only through a conversation with a coworker at her internship site. If you’re job hunting here, check district websites directly, not just the big job boards.
School Counselor Salary in North Dakota
North Dakota school counselors earned a median salary of $58,960 in May 2025. That’s about $5,370 below the national median of $64,330 (see our national salary figures for the full picture). These figures cover the federal category for educational, guidance and career counselors and advisors, so they include some workers outside K-12 schools. Within a district, pay usually follows the salary schedule and your years of experience.
| Percentile | Annual Salary (May 2025) |
|---|---|
| 10th | $46,860 |
| 25th | $49,870 |
| Median (50th) | $58,960 |
| 75th | $73,860 |
| 90th | $79,500 |
Metro pay doesn’t follow city size. Minot posted the highest median in May 2025 at $70,390, while Fargo, the state’s largest metro, posted the lowest at $52,960. Both of the state’s nonmetropolitan regions came in above Fargo.
| Metro Area | Median Salary (May 2025) |
|---|---|
| Minot, ND | $70,390 |
| West North Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $63,900 |
| Bismarck, ND | $61,970 |
| East North Dakota nonmetropolitan area | $59,500 |
| Grand Forks, ND-MN | $58,960 |
| Fargo, ND-MN | $52,960 |
CACREP-Accredited School Counseling Programs in North Dakota
Two North Dakota universities hold CACREP accreditation for school counseling. The table orders programs by the number of master’s graduates each university reported, which measures size, not quality.
| Institution | City | Degree | Accredited Through | Master’s Graduates (2023) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State University | Fargo | M.Ed. | March 31, 2029 | 15 |
University of Mary in Bismarck is also CACREP-accredited, through March 31, 2031. It does not report graduates under the federal code used here, so it is listed separately rather than placed in the size order.
CACREP accreditation and state approval are separate. DPI’s list of state-approved school counseling programs includes an in-state program that isn’t on this table, so check both lists before you choose.
Lawmakers kept North Dakota’s counselor ratio in 2025
House Bill 1449 proposed changing the 300-to-1 counselor requirement to a “reasonable effort” standard that districts could meet by documenting their recruiting efforts. School boards and administrators supported it, citing the counselor shortage, while school counselors testified against it. In February 2025 the House Education Committee recommended Do Not Pass, 10-0. DPI’s current guidance still describes the 300-to-1 requirement, so for anyone training to work here, the staffing rule behind counselor hiring remains in place.
How this table was built. Every program here is accredited by CACREP 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. 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 North Dakota requirements for school counselor certification before you enroll.
- Steady openings: North Dakota projects about 60 school counselor openings a year from 2024 to 2034, mostly from turnover.
- Two agencies, one credential: ESPB issues the educator license and DPI issues the SC03, which covers pre-K through grade 12. The core requirement is a qualifying master’s plus state-approved school counseling coursework.
- Staffing written into law: Districts must make available one FTE counselor per 300 students in grades K-12, prorated by enrollment, and a 2025 bill to loosen that drew a 10-0 Do Not Pass recommendation.
- Pay below the national median: The May 2025 state median is $58,960, though Minot ($70,390) and western nonmetro areas run higher.
- Two CACREP-accredited programs: North Dakota State University and the University of Mary. DPI’s state-approved list includes another in-state program, so check both.
Once you’ve seen which programs are accredited here, the next step is mapping the path from degree to SC03 credential.
