---
title: Is a Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies degree worth the debt?
cip: 3101
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

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

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **58** colleges (58 of 58 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $31,967 ($30,530 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $20,104 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.65× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $28,322–$34,417 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $31,967 | $20,104 | 0.65× | 58 | 58/58 |
| Master's | $42,811 | $30,099 | 0.66× | 3 | 3/3 |

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

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $52,700 | $15,400 |
| Brigham Young University (UT) | $42,900 | $12,250 |
| 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 |
| California State University-Sacramento (CA) | $35,960 | $19,181 |
| University of Utah (UT) | $35,711 | $19,125 |
| Gordon College (MA) | $35,399 | — |
| Pittsburg State University (KS) | $35,322 | $18,245 |
| Indiana University-Bloomington (IN) | $35,063 | $19,261 |
| University of Arkansas (AR) | $34,893 | $21,500 |
| California State University-Long Beach (CA) | $34,586 | $14,750 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $34,494 | — |
| California State University-Chico (CA) | $34,427 | $17,886 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/parks-recreation-and-leisure-studies.jsonld` · `/education/fields/parks-recreation-and-leisure-studies.json`