Best Recreational Therapist programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment
Plan, direct, or coordinate medically-approved recreation programs for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or other institutions. Activities include sports, trips, dramatics, social activities, and crafts.
6 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 108 people a year. The job pays a median of $51,030 in North Carolina across about 440 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (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 North Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.2309In North Carolina → | 108 | 100.0% | 6 | $35,966 | $26,323 |
Top 6 schools in North Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 4 of the 6 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Carolina University Greenville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy | $32,371 | 63% | — | 89% |
| 2 | University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy | $39,366 | 71% | — | 64% |
| 3 | Winston - Salem State University Winston-Salem, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy | $31,421 | 47% | — | 78% |
| 4 | Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy | $37,608 | 60% | — | 82% |
| 5 | Western Piedmont Community College Morganton, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy | — | 49% | — | — |
| 6 | Catawba College Salisbury, NC Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy | — | 47% | $17,916 | 75% |
All 6 schools in North Carolina
Every school in North Carolina 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Carolina University | Greenville | Public | 35 | 1 |
| University of North Carolina Wilmington | Wilmington | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Winston - Salem State University | Winston-Salem | Public | 21 | 1 |
| Western Carolina University | Cullowhee | Public | 18 | 1 |
| Western Piedmont Community College | Morganton | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Catawba College | Salisbury | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
What recreational therapists earn in North Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $61,960. North Carolina pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in North Carolina
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 Recreational Therapists page.
How to become a Recreational Therapist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational 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 North Carolina
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Recreational Therapists1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.2309Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy
Common questions
Answers for people weighing recreational therapists programs in North Carolina.
What degree do you need to become a Recreational Therapist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy, which awarded 108 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Recreational Therapist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. Together they graduate about 108 people a year in North Carolina.
How much do recreational therapists earn in North Carolina?+
The median is $51,030 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.6% below the U.S. median of $61,960. 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 recreational therapists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in North Carolina?+
6 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 recreational therapists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Recreation Therapist, Recreational Therapist, Rehabilitation Therapist, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1125.
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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