Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness

Types of Degrees Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	55,115
Master’s Degree	9,894
Associate Degree	5,979
Basic Certificate	1,583
Undergraduate Certificate	684
Doctor’s Degree	326
Graduate Certificate	232

What Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, parks and rec majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Parks & Rec Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• 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

A major in parks and rec prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• 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

As you progress with your parks and rec degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• 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, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with parks and rec:

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, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness?

Roughly 50% of the graduates are women, and 50% are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2,739
Black or African American	6,871
Hispanic or Latino	8,798
White	31,438
International Students	1,358
Other Races/Ethnicities	3,911

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Parks & Rec. About 2.5% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The U.S. Department of Education found that students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a bachelor’s degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies made a median starting salary of $29,050 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $25,705 (25th percentile) and $32,198 (75th percentile).

Note that some of these people may have jobs that are not directly related to a parks and rec degree.

Salaries According to BLS

Parks and Rec majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $49,280 to $87,030 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness

Some careers associated with parks and rec require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for parks and 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, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Programs

In 2020-2021, 1,455 schools offered a parks and rec program of some type. 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)	138	5
Certificate (2-4 Years)	5	0
Associate’s Degree	611	43
Bachelor’s Degree	79	26
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	556	124
Post-Master’s	10	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	81	3
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	2	1

Is a Degree in Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Worth It?

The median salary for a parks and rec grad is $54,760 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 37% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $297,200 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness

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

Major	Number of Grads
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	142,610
Public Administration & Social Service	98,583
Legal Professions	61,055
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences	4,477

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.