Cal State East Bay Parks and Recreation (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies
- Public university
- Hayward, CA
- About 33 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cal State East Bay parks and recreation graduates earn more than graduates of most parks and recreation programs nationally, $43,700 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $20,306 in federal loans, close to the national median of $22,741. It is one of the higher-paying parks and recreation degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all parks and recreation bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every California parks and recreation program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $215 a month, or 5.9% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
85% of graduates (23 of 27) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the San Francisco area are about 16% above the national average, so a $43,700 salary here buys what about $37,799 buys in a typical US city.
About Cal State East Bay
Parks and Recreation ranks 9th of 22 bachelor's programs at Cal State East Bay by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($124,392), Construction Management ($99,649), and Computer Science ($60,371).
Other parks and recreation bachelor's programs near Hayward
Common questions
The median graduate earns $43,700 one year after graduating. The median across parks and recreation bachelor's programs in California is $33,920.
The median federal loan balance is $20,306, which ranks 8th lowest of 8 parks and recreation bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $215 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 46% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 66%.
Most do. 85% (23 of 27) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the parks and recreation program.
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
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024