Parks & Rec

Types of Degrees Parks & Rec Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	52,252
Master’s Degree	9,816
Associate Degree	6,015
Basic Certificate	1,459
Undergraduate Certificate	513
Graduate Certificate	349
Doctor’s Degree	343

What Parks & Rec Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to parks & rec and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Parks & Rec Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in parks & rec should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Skills for Parks & Rec Majors

When studying parks & rec, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

Abilities for Parks & Rec Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a parks & rec student include the following:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Parks & Rec Major?

People with a parks & rec degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Athletes and Sports Competitors	7.6%	$50,650
Athletic Trainers	22.7%	$47,510
Coaches and Scouts	12.9%	$33,780
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Exercise Physiologists	13.2%	$49,270
First-Line Supervisors of Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Workers	11.4%	$48,220
Fitness Trainers and Aerobics Instructors	10.0%	$39,820
General and Operations Managers	9.1%	$100,930
Recreation and Fitness Studies Professors	9.7%	$62,620
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Parks & Rec?

Roughly 48% of the graduates are women, and 52% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of parks & rec majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2,644
Black or African American	6,284
Hispanic or Latino	8,520
White	29,646
International Students	1,260
Other Races/Ethnicities	3,898

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Parks & Rec. About 2.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Parks & Rec

Some degrees associated with parks & rec may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for parks & rec careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.3%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	7.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	7.5%
Some College Courses	5.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	9.0%
Bachelor’s Degree	34.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	5.0%
Master’s Degree	20.0%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.0%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	1.1%
Doctoral Degree	5.9%

Online Parks & Rec Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	278	16
Certificate (2-4 Years)	14	0
Associate’s Degree	1,244	92
Bachelor’s Degree	182	62
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1,190	288
Post-Master’s	30	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	150	2
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	8	2
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	4	2

Majors Related to Parks & Rec

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to parks & rec.

Major	Number of Grads
Public Administration & Social Service	96,694

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By NPS Photo/Zurbuch under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.