Best Recreation programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses pertaining to recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, including exercise physiology and facilities management.
26 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,004 people a year. The job pays a median of $87,960 in Massachusetts across about 290 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Massachusetts page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 31.0504In Massachusetts → | 576 | 57.4% | 21 | $30,426 | $25,643 |
| 2 | CIP 31.0501In Massachusetts → | 202 | 20.1% | 6 | $30,426 | $25,643 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1314In Massachusetts → | 139 | 13.8% | 4 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 4 | CIP 31.0508In Massachusetts → | 70 | 7.0% | 3 | $30,426 | $25,643 |
| 5 | Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studiesmain feeder CIP 31.0101In Massachusetts → | 17 | 1.7% | 3 | $34,451 | $22,500 |
Top 25 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 26 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Massachusetts - Boston Boston, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 153 | Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General | $37,703 | 49% | — | 84% |
| 2 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 141 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | $36,419 | 83% | — | 60% |
| 3 | Springfield College Springfield, MA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 112 | Physical Education Teaching and Coaching | — | 74% | $26,290 | 72% |
| 4 | Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 83 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 91% | $21,126 | 16% |
| 5 | Endicott College Beverly, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 74 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | $30,338 | 76% | $34,195 | 71% |
| 6 | Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 72 | Physical Education Teaching and Coaching | $38,216 | 53% | — | 88% |
| 7 | Westfield State University Westfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General | $32,456 | 54% | — | 81% |
| 8 | Nichols College Dudley, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | $32,564 | 63% | $29,718 | 81% |
| 9 | Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | — | — | — |
| 10 | Western New England University Springfield, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | $26,544 | 64% | $29,327 | 83% |
| 11 | Springfield College - Regional, Online, and Continuing Education Springfield, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Sports Studies | $34,191 | — | — | — |
| 12 | Lasell University Newton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | $36,606 | 59% | $23,724 | 81% |
| 13 | Salem State University Salem, MA Public · 3 feeder programs | 27 | Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies | — | 50% | — | 96% |
| 14 | Dean College Franklin, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | $28,609 | 54% | $28,874 | 74% |
| 15 | Fitchburg State University Fitchburg, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General | $37,218 | 55% | — | 87% |
| 16 | Curry College Milton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 51% | $28,321 | 88% |
| 17 | Fisher College Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 28% | $26,273 | 71% |
| 18 | American International College Springfield, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 46% | $23,595 | 100% |
| 19 | Emmanuel College Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 68% | $29,723 | 76% |
| 20 | Regis College Weston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 72% | $26,647 | 70% |
| 21 | Clark University Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 77% | $23,332 | 40% |
| 22 | College of Our Lady of the Elms Chicopee, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 68% | $21,982 | 85% |
| 23 | Holyoke Community College Holyoke, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 29% | — | — |
| 24 | Bunker Hill Community College Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 13% | — | — |
| 25 | Framingham State University Framingham, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Sport and Fitness Administration/Management | — | 48% | — | 84% |
All 26 schools in Massachusetts
Every school in Massachusetts with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Massachusetts - Boston | Boston | Public | 153 | 2 |
| University of Massachusetts - Amherst | Amherst | Public | 141 | 1 |
| Springfield College | Springfield | Private not-for-profit | 112 | 5 |
| Boston College | Chestnut Hill | Private not-for-profit | 83 | 1 |
| Endicott College | Beverly | Private not-for-profit | 74 | 2 |
| Bridgewater State University | Bridgewater | Public | 72 | 2 |
| Westfield State University | Westfield | Public | 46 | 1 |
| Nichols College | Dudley | Private not-for-profit | 45 | 1 |
| Northeastern University Professional Programs | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 1 |
| Western New England University | Springfield | Private not-for-profit | 40 | 1 |
| Springfield College - Regional, Online, and Continuing Education | Springfield | Private not-for-profit | 30 | 1 |
| Lasell University | Newton | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 1 |
| Salem State University | Salem | Public | 27 | 3 |
| Dean College | Franklin | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 2 |
| Fitchburg State University | Fitchburg | Public | 14 | 2 |
What recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $77,270. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Massachusetts
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Recreation
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Massachusetts
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1314Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
- 31.0101Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies
- 31.0501Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General
- 31.0504Sport and Fitness Administration/Management
- 31.0508Sports Studies
Common questions
Answers for people weighing recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary programs in Massachusetts.
What degree do you need to become a Recreation?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Sport and Fitness Administration/Management, which awarded 576 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 57.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Recreation?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sports, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Parks. Together they graduate about 1,004 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $87,960 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 13.8% above the U.S. median of $77,270. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+
26 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do recreation and fitness studies teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Physical Education Professor (PE Professor), Health and Physical Education Professor (HPE Professor) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1193.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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