College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is a Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 58 colleges (58 of 58 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$31,967

Graduates only, early career.$30,530 two years out.

Median federal debt

$20,104

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.65×

65% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is under a year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies report early-career pay between $28,322 and $34,417 — a spread of $6,095 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $28,322 median $31,967 75th pct $34,417

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 58 colleges $31,967 $20,104 0.65×

Master's 3 colleges $42,811 $30,099 0.66×

Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $52,700 $15,400 debt

Brigham Young University UT $42,900 $12,250 debt

San Jose State University CA $39,660 —

California State University-East Bay CA $37,905 —

Metropolitan State University of Denver CO $37,024 —

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $36,770 $22,564 debt

California State University-Sacramento CA $35,960 $19,181 debt

University of Utah UT $35,711 $19,125 debt

Gordon College MA $35,399 —

Pittsburg State University KS $35,322 $18,245 debt

Indiana University-Bloomington IN $35,063 $19,261 debt

University of Arkansas AR $34,893 $21,500 debt

California State University-Long Beach CA $34,586 $14,750 debt

Texas A&M University-College Station TX $34,494 —

California State University-Chico CA $34,427 $17,886 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard