Master's · earnings grade

Is a Parks, Recreation degree worth it?

Graduates earn a median $41,565 two years after finishing, more than 19% of master's majors. Measured across 35 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 $41,565 2 years after finishing · per graduate
Typical range $39,729–$42,682 middle half of US programmes
Over no degree +$2,045 vs $39,520 high-school median
Graduates a year 360 35 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 Southern Connecticut State University cost & debt at this university → not published $48,849 not published 12
2 Western Kentucky University cost & debt at this university → $42,006 $44,257 $46,117 33
3 University of Wisconsin-La Crosse not published $42,682 not published 10
4 University of Arkansas $47,249 $42,402 $45,092 21
5 Texas State University cost & debt at this university → $41,564 $41,937 $44,802 4
6 Florida International University not published $41,565 $52,800 18
7 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania cost & debt at this university → $47,778 $39,729 $38,756 30
8 Clemson University cost & debt at this university → $39,741 $37,208 $33,006 31
9 Western Illinois University cost & debt at this university → $35,765 $32,569 $37,132 11

What this figure does and does not tell you

Two medians are worth separating. $41,565 is what the typical graduate earns — each programme counted in proportion to how many students it graduates. $41,937 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 master's major in this dataset reports $52,837, so Parks, Recreation sits below the middle by $11,272.

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

Bachelor's — $31,366 (D)

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

Gerontology — $42,403 Psychology — $42,682 Physiology — $43,054 Library Science and Administration — $43,426 Student Counseling — $43,798 Theological and Ministerial Studies — $44,189

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Parks, Recreation: the questions people ask

How much do Parks, Recreation graduates earn?
The median master's graduate earns $41,565 two years after finishing (weighting each programme by how many students it graduates), across 9 US programmes that publish the figure. One year out it is $41,564.
Is a Parks, Recreation degree worth it?
Financially it is a slower start than most majors at this level — worth planning your borrowing around. The median graduate earns $2,045 a year more than a US worker whose highest qualification is a high-school diploma.
What is the salary range for Parks, Recreation?
Half of US programmes report medians between $39,729 and $42,682. Where you study moves this figure more than most applicants expect.
How many people graduate in Parks, Recreation each year?
About 360 students complete a master's in this field each year across 35 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.