Is a Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies degree worth it?
Across 50 schools, graduates of Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies earn a median $50,565 five years out on $20,104 of debt — most often working as Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary. Every figure is a real, published federal number.
Median 5-yr pay
$50,565
Median debt
$20,104
Years to pay off
3.9
at 10% of pay
AI task exposure
56%
GPT-4-era overlap
10-yr job growth
+1.9%
BLS 2024–2034
Gender pay gap
5.3%
$53,261 vs $50,437
Net price
$17,156/yr
Debt-test failures
8.6%
of programs
'Real' premium
−$10,532
vs avg, adjusted
See where this degree leads, who's hiring, and whether the pay covers the rent.
Explore Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies in full →Data: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, O*NET, AI-exposure measures (Eloundou/AIOE), Zillow. Earnings reflect federally-aided graduates; see the full story for methodology and limitations.