Which parks and recreation bachelor's program pays the most?

BYU in Utah reports the highest first-year pay of the 52 programs ranked here, $47,596. Its median federal debt is $12,000.

How much debt do parks and recreation bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $22,741 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 66% of first-year pay.

Highest-Paying Parks and Recreation (Bachelor's) Programs in the US

52 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Bachelor's in Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median parks and recreation bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $33,806 in their first year and $49,799 five years after. California is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $33,920. The median program leaves its graduates with $22,741 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$33,806Across 52 programs

Median pay after 5 years$49,799Across 43 programs

Median federal debt$22,741Across 44 programs

Debt-to-earnings66%Across 44 programs

All 52 programs, ranked by graduate pay

Each program is ranked by the median pay of its graduates one year after they finished, from College Scorecard. This measures what graduates earn, not how good the teaching is. Pay also depends on where graduates live and work. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	After cost of living	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	BYUProvo, UT · private nonprofit	$47,596	$48,143	$65,672	$12,000	25%
2	Cal State East BayHayward, CA · public	$43,700	$39,469	Not reported	$20,306	46%
3	ASUTempe, AZ · public	$43,149	$42,859	$56,982	$22,396	52%
4	Metropolitan State University of DenverDenver, CO · public	$42,886	Not adjusted	$52,362	Not reported	Not reported
5	Northwest Missouri StateMaryville, MO · public	$42,389	Not adjusted	Not reported	$25,250	60%
6	Lehman CollegeBronx, NY · public	$41,484	$38,439	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
7	Sacramento StateSacramento, CA · public	$40,338	$36,432	$60,227	$20,024	50%
8	Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo, CA · public	$39,157	$35,366	Not reported	$16,369	42%
9	University of MissouriColumbia, MO · public	$38,725	$42,641	$55,583	$21,500	56%
10	Oklahoma StateStillwater, OK · public	$37,393	$42,568	Not reported	$21,313	57%
11	University of Northern IowaCedar Falls, IA · public	$37,233	$42,425	$48,941	$23,907	64%
12	University of IowaIowa City, IA · public	$37,103	Not adjusted	$51,944	$25,691	69%
13	University of UtahSalt Lake City, UT · public	$37,009	$37,434	$50,353	$22,982	62%
14	Ohio UniversityAthens, OH · public	$36,850	Not adjusted	$59,913	Not reported	Not reported
15	Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaKutztown, PA · public	$36,363	$37,268	$53,562	$27,000	74%
16	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis, MN · public	$35,999	$36,502	$45,017	$25,369	70%
17	Pittsburg StatePittsburg, KS · public	$35,587	Not adjusted	Not reported	$19,661	55%
18	Cal State Long BeachLong Beach, CA · public	$35,532	$32,092	$47,459	$14,500	41%
19	IU BloomingtonBloomington, IN · public	$35,429	$37,961	$50,444	$19,750	56%
20	Utah StateLogan, UT · public	$35,079	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
21	Winona StateWinona, MN · public	$35,062	$35,552	$43,251	$21,148	60%
22	East Carolina UniversityGreenville, NC · public	$34,751	$36,841	$46,129	$19,587	56%
23	UIUCChampaign, IL · public	$34,742	$34,757	$63,748	$23,447	67%
24	Oregon StateCorvallis, OR · public	$34,451	$33,331	$50,685	$22,500	65%
25	Shepherd UniversityShepherdstown, WV · public	$34,287	Not adjusted	$50,742	$24,950	73%
26	Chico StateChico, CA · public	$33,920	$30,636	$56,924	$18,179	54%
27	San Diego StateSan Diego, CA · public	$33,692	$30,430	$62,734	$14,999	45%
28	University of South AlabamaMobile, AL · public	$33,557	$37,780	$42,033	$26,750	80%
29	Bowling Green StateBowling Green, OH · public	$32,709	$35,257	$46,968	$26,000	79%
30	Fresno StateFresno, CA · public	$32,697	$29,531	$45,967	$14,061	43%
31	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale, IL · public	$32,357	$32,371	$46,108	$20,525	63%
32	Shaw UniversityRaleigh, NC · private nonprofit	$32,241	Not adjusted	$31,390	$39,500	123%
33	Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, AZ · public	$31,672	$31,459	$51,918	$21,500	68%
34	University of ArkansasFayetteville, AR · public	$31,567	$36,310	$65,926	$23,310	74%
35	UNC GreensboroGreensboro, NC · public	$31,561	$33,459	Not reported	$26,000	82%
36	Jacksonville StateJacksonville, AL · public	$31,303	Not adjusted	Not reported	$21,500	69%
37	Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboro, GA · public	$31,086	$32,283	$47,279	$24,936	80%
38	Radford UniversityRadford, VA · public	$30,145	$29,816	$47,941	$26,000	86%
39	Northern Michigan UniversityMarquette, MI · public	$28,890	$30,026	Not reported	$23,855	83%
40	San Francisco StateSan Francisco, CA · public	$28,427	$25,675	$49,799	$16,797	59%
41	Missouri StateSpringfield, MO · public	$28,345	$31,211	$46,262	$27,457	97%
42	University of Nebraska at KearneyKearney, NE · public	$28,241	$31,343	$58,149	$23,500	83%
43	Western Washington UniversityBellingham, WA · public	$27,558	$25,752	$42,232	$17,897	65%
44	Paul Smiths College of Arts and SciencePaul Smiths, NY · private nonprofit	$27,543	Not adjusted	Not reported	$23,250	84%
45	Central Michigan UniversityMount Pleasant, MI · public	$27,511	$28,593	$43,609	Not reported	Not reported
46	University of Mount OliveMount Olive, NC · private nonprofit	$27,219	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
47	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata, CA · public	$26,224	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
48	Western Colorado UniversityGunnison, CO · public	$25,903	Not adjusted	$31,184	$19,507	75%
49	University of Southern MississippiHattiesburg, MS · public	$25,354	Not adjusted	Not reported	$29,460	116%
50	Grambling StateGrambling, LA · public	$19,830	Not adjusted	$36,507	$41,750	211%
51	Southern Oregon UniversityAshland, OR · public	$19,139	Not adjusted	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
52	Benedict CollegeColumbia, SC · private nonprofit	$17,324	Not adjusted	Not reported	$40,000	231%

Pay after cost of living divides first-year pay by the Bureau of Economic Analysis price level of the school's state, where the US average is 100. It is shown for 35 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 17, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

8 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

College Scorecard withholds pay for programs with too few graduates, to protect their privacy, so those programs can't be ranked.

Parks and Recreation (Bachelor's) programs by state

Each row is the median across the state's parks and recreation bachelor's programs. State names link to the full ranking of that state's programs.

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
California	9	$33,920	$16,583

Programs in 26 more states and territories report pay, but too few to rank. A state ranking needs at least five programs that report both pay and debt.

Quick picks nationwide

Lowest median debt

Fresno State, CA$14,061
Cal State Long Beach, CA$14,500
San Diego State, CA$14,999
Cal Poly SLO, CA$16,369
San Francisco State, CA$16,797
Chico State, CA$18,179
Sacramento State, CA$20,024
Cal State East Bay, CA$20,306

Lowest debt for the pay

Only the 8 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Common questions

The median parks and recreation bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $33,806 in their first year and $49,799 five years after.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Medians are across programs, not students: each program counts once, however many graduates it has.
National medians include every program in the 50 states, DC, and US territories, including schools that have since closed. Schools with several campuses that report one combined figure are counted once.
Programs are ranked by College Scorecard median pay one year after graduation. Pay after cost of living uses the price level of the school's state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025. Price levels are the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024