Bachelor's · earnings grade

Is a Parks, Recreation degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $31,133 two years after finishing, more than 25% of bachelor's majors. Measured across 121 US programmes by the Department of Education — real graduate pay, not survey answers.

D

The verdict on the money

Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around.

Median earnings $31,133 2 years after finishing · per graduate
Typical range $28,816–$34,298 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree — vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 1,876 121 programmes

Where a Parks, Recreation degree pays best US programmes ranked on their own graduates' median earnings two years out.

#University1 yr out2 yrs out3 yrs outGraduates/yr
1 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo cost & debt at this university → $39,393 $43,957 $55,295 —
2 University of North Texas cost & debt at this university → $33,035 $37,808 $42,425 36
3 Central Washington University cost & debt at this university → $29,276 $37,363 $38,387 —
4 University of New Hampshire-Main Campus $33,992 $36,810 $42,954 48
5 Texas State University cost & debt at this university → $30,766 $36,368 $43,493 39
6 University of Florida-Online cost & debt at this university → $33,795 $35,843 $43,442 18
7 University of Florida cost & debt at this university → $33,795 $35,843 $43,442 55
8 Pennsylvania State University-World Campus $33,729 $35,131 $41,001 7
9 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus cost & debt at this university → $33,729 $35,131 $41,001 76
10 University of St Francis $31,009 $35,060 $38,586 5
11 St. Joseph's University-New York $36,149 $34,814 $42,577 9
12 Minnesota State University-Mankato cost & debt at this university → $36,914 $34,420 $38,362 31

What this figure does and does not tell you

Two medians are worth separating. $31,133 is what the typical graduate earns — each programme counted in proportion to how many students it graduates. $31,366 is what the typical programme reports, counting a class of twenty the same as a class of two thousand. The weighted figure is lower here, which means the larger programmes in this field pay less than the small ones.

It is the median of what real graduates of this exact major earned, taken from tax records two years after they completed. It is not a starting salary, not an average of job adverts, and not a projection. The median bachelor's major in this dataset reports $36,497, so Parks, Recreation sits below the middle by $5,364.

Two years is early in a career. Fields with long training pipelines — medicine, law, research — look weaker at this point than they will at ten, while trades and applied technical fields peak sooner. Read a low figure in a long-pipeline subject as "slow start", not "bad degree".

There is no debt figure here on purpose. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not borrowing, so nobody can honestly tell you the debt of a specific major. Debt is published per institution — that is where our university cost pages carry it.

Parks, Recreation at other levels

Master's — $41,937 (D)

Majors that pay more at this level Closest first — useful if you are still choosing.

Behavioral Sciences — $31,432 Sociology — $31,443 Foods, Nutrition — $31,468 Health Services — $31,594 Liberal Arts and Sciences — $31,830 Mental and Social Health Services — $31,854

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Parks, Recreation: the questions people ask

How much do Parks, Recreation graduates earn?
The median bachelor's graduate earns $31,133 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 58 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $32,018.
Is a Parks, Recreation degree worth it?
Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around.
What is the salary range for Parks, Recreation?
Half of US programmes report medians between $28,816 and $34,298. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Parks, Recreation each year?
About 1,876 students complete a bachelor's in this field each year across 121 US programmes.
Does this include student debt?
No — and deliberately. The Department of Education publishes earnings by field of study but not debt, so any "debt by major" figure you see elsewhere is an estimate. Debt is published per institution, which is why our university pages carry it and this page does not.
All degree grades Highest paying majors Most popular majors University costs & payback

Classified by the Department of Education as Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management (CIP 3103). Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings (median earnings of graduates who received federal financial aid, measured 1–3 years after completion). Figures are per major and credential level, pooled across US programmes. Information only, not financial advice.