How To Become A College Dean: What It Is and Career Path

What is a college dean and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Melissa Gregory

College deans are responsible for approving faculty hiring, overseeing the budget, fundraising, and performing other administrative functions. They work to attract top students and faculty to polish the academic profile of the division. They often lead academic divisions within a college or university, such as an individual school, but sometimes, they lead a non-academic division, such as in the case of a dean of student affairs.

College deans earn an average salary of $110,000 annually or $53 per hour. They primarily manage the academic mission of a division and labor to ensure that their division meets its goals to educate students. They also oversee aspects of student life, such as housing, discipline, and extracurricular organizations among other elements. The deans work with other sections within the division on their budgets to ensure that they all stay in line and meet guidelines.

College deans typically hold a Ph.D. or equivalent of five years experience in student affairs from an accredited university. They are expected to have some experience as well in academic administration or any related setting to become familiar with academic programs, policies, and regulations necessary to hold authority over the activities of an educational institution.

What general advice would you give to a College Dean?

Melissa Gregory

Dean and Professor, University of Toledo

Melissa Valiska Gregory, Dean, College of Arts and Letters, University of Toledo, https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-gregory-193546290/, https://www.utoledo.edu/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=Gen-Enrollment&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqpSwBhClARIsADlZ_TlC5r5c4-Sw7v9XW7tXvN3mlDs-TrgkdXuf8J8xwnvs7T-HF2gVPgoaAkYCEALw_wcB

ScoreCollege DeanUS Average

Salary

7.2

Avg. Salary $91,676

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.1

Growth Rate 7%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.70%

Asian 4.37%

Black or African American 11.46%

Hispanic or Latino 14.29%

Unknown 4.01%

White 65.18%

Gender

female 52.84%

male 47.16%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress Level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.8

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a college dean

Explore college dean education requirements

Most common college dean degrees

Bachelor's

54.3 %

Master's

13.4 %

Doctorate

12.2 %

Start to develop specific college dean skills

Skills	Percentages
Colleges	22.69%
Scholarship	17.80%
Strategic Plan	12.69%
Professional Development	12.06%
Graduate Programs	7.76%

Complete relevant college dean training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New college deans learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a college dean based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real college dean resumes.

Research college dean duties and responsibilities

Produce, manage and evaluate all budgetary and programmatic aspects of a comprehensive career service program for students and alumni.
Design new illustrations for children's literature using a Wacom tablet.
Authore ICT faculty handbooks and train faculty in effective implementation.
Work cooperatively with other offices and student groups in the implementation of various campus-wide multicultural activities and other major events.

Prepare your college dean resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your college dean resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a college dean resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable College Dean Resume templates

Build a professional College Dean resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your College Dean resume.

Apply for college dean jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a college dean job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do college deans rate their job?