Which recreation management bachelor's program pays the most?

Southern Connecticut State in Connecticut reports the highest first-year pay of the 45 programs ranked here, $46,274. Its median federal debt is $25,000.

How much debt do recreation management bachelor's graduates have?

The median program leaves its graduates with $25,000 in federal debt. Across programs, the median debt is 71% of first-year pay.

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

45 programs report first-year pay
1 state ranking
Bachelor's in Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median recreation management bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $34,040 in their first year and $46,116 five years after. North Carolina is the only state with enough programs to rank, with a median of $30,485. The median program leaves its graduates with $25,000 in federal debt.

Median first-year pay$34,040Across 45 programs

Median pay after 5 years$46,116Across 48 programs

Median federal debt$25,000Across 46 programs

Debt-to-earnings71%Across 44 programs

All 45 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	Southern Connecticut StateNew Haven, CT · public	$46,274	$44,662	$50,895	$25,000	54%
2	University of FloridaGainesville, FL · public	$41,046	$39,691	$52,792	$18,606	45%
3	Illinois StateNormal, IL · public	$39,104	$39,120	$47,002	$22,000	56%
4	Southwestern Oklahoma StateWeatherford, OK · public	$38,506	$43,835	Not reported	$19,757	51%
5	University of New HampshireDurham, NH · public	$38,201	Not adjusted	$56,149	$27,000	71%
6	NC StateRaleigh, NC · public	$38,116	$40,409	$50,810	$20,500	54%
7	South Dakota StateBrookings, SD · public	$38,076	Not adjusted	$49,651	$25,093	66%
8	Kean UniversityUnion, NJ · public	$37,884	$34,818	$59,761	$27,625	73%
9	Kansas StateManhattan, KS · public	$37,083	$41,172	Not reported	$26,000	70%
10	UNTDenton, TX · public	$36,857	$37,975	$53,543	$26,000	71%
11	St. Joseph's University-New YorkBrooklyn, NY · private nonprofit	$36,847	$34,143	$56,687	$26,000	71%
12	Northwest Missouri StateMaryville, MO · public	$36,247	$39,912	$42,169	$26,198	72%
13	Minnesota State MankatoMankato, MN · public	$36,220	$36,726	$51,659	$27,000	75%
14	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston, IL · public	$35,425	$35,440	Not reported	$22,500	64%
15	Michigan StateEast Lansing, MI · public	$35,343	$36,733	Not reported	$24,939	71%
16	Ole MissUniversity, MS · public	$35,318	Not adjusted	Not reported	$22,213	63%
17	University of Northern ColoradoGreeley, CO · public	$35,308	$34,262	$56,189	$24,250	69%
18	Commonwealth University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg, PA · public	$35,280	$36,158	$44,161	Not reported	Not reported
19	Penn StateUniversity Park, PA · public	$35,132	$36,006	$55,121	$24,410	69%
20	Arkansas Tech UniversityRussellville, AR · public	$35,073	$40,343	Not reported	$23,726	68%
21	UW-La CrosseLa Crosse, WI · public	$34,490	$36,654	$49,815	$22,005	64%
22	Indiana StateTerre Haute, IN · public	$34,084	$36,520	$50,136	$25,000	73%
23	Old Dominion UniversityNorfolk, VA · public	$34,040	$33,668	$47,451	$25,000	73%
24	East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, PA · public	$33,955	$34,800	$43,591	$26,000	77%
25	Colorado StateFort Collins, CO · public	$33,161	$32,179	$52,324	$19,628	59%
26	Clemson UniversityClemson, SC · public	$32,992	$35,192	$47,171	$22,592	68%
27	Texas StateSan Marcos, TX · public	$32,620	$33,609	$46,540	$23,000	71%
28	Western Kentucky UniversityBowling Green, KY · public	$32,267	$35,789	$40,705	$26,000	81%
29	Slippery Rock University of PennsylvaniaSlippery Rock, PA · public	$32,065	$32,863	$41,281	$26,000	81%
30	UNC WilmingtonWilmington, NC · public	$31,873	$33,790	$44,415	$23,000	72%
31	University of West GeorgiaCarrollton, GA · public	$31,492	$32,704	$53,752	$28,750	91%
32	Kent StateKent, OH · public	$31,422	$33,869	$45,691	$21,074	67%
33	Johnson & Wales University-ProvidenceProvidence, RI · private nonprofit	$30,963	Not adjusted	$50,488	$27,000	87%
34	Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee, NC · public	$30,485	$32,319	$41,615	$22,252	73%
35	SUNY BrockportBrockport, NY · public	$30,388	$28,158	$49,357	$25,000	82%
36	Middle Tennessee StateMurfreesboro, TN · public	$30,350	$33,036	$43,024	$28,545	94%
37	Eastern Kentucky UniversityRichmond, KY · public	$30,330	$33,641	$36,662	$25,616	84%
38	FIUMiami, FL · public	$29,862	$28,876	$43,412	$19,000	64%
39	Appalachian StateBoone, NC · public	$29,646	$31,429	$39,498	$19,706	66%
40	Henderson StateArkadelphia, AR · public	$29,307	$33,711	Not reported	$25,000	85%
41	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb, IL · public	$28,978	$28,990	$41,189	$29,000	100%
42	North Carolina Central UniversityDurham, NC · public	$28,863	$30,599	$35,544	$31,000	107%
43	Central Washington UniversityEllensburg, WA · public	$28,140	$26,296	$44,094	$23,333	83%
44	BYU-IdahoRexburg, ID · private nonprofit	$27,961	Not adjusted	$42,423	$12,567	45%
45	Frostburg StateFrostburg, MD · public	$25,345	$24,148	Not reported	$25,000	99%

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 40 programs where at least half of the graduates who work are working in the school's state. The other 5, whose graduates mostly work in other states or whose state has no price level, are listed last when you sort by it.

One program reports pay but not debt, so it is 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.

Recreation Management (Bachelor's) programs by state

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

State	Programs	Year 1 pay	Debt
North Carolina	5	$30,485	$22,252

Programs in 29 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

Appalachian State, NC$19,706
NC State, NC$20,500
Western Carolina University, NC$22,252
UNC Wilmington, NC$23,000
North Carolina Central University, NC$31,000

Lowest debt for the pay

NC State, NC54%
Appalachian State, NC66%
UNC Wilmington, NC72%
Western Carolina University, NC73%
North Carolina Central University, NC107%

Only the 5 programs with their own page here are included. "Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to recreation management, largest first. Pay is the median across the US and all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$105,770

Median pay in the US. 3,503,020 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $50,090Top 10%: $253,390

Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers

$39,150

Median pay in the US. 952,640 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 149,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: no formal educational credential.

Bottom 10%: $31,150Top 10%: $56,730

Facilities Managers

$106,660

Median pay in the US. 156,180 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $64,480Top 10%: $176,120

First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers

$58,430

Median pay in the US. 130,760 people work in this job in the US. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 23,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $40,560Top 10%: $85,650

Common questions

The median recreation management bachelor's program in the US pays its graduates $34,040 in their first year and $46,116 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