Best programs to become an athlete
You do not need a college degree to become an athlete. BLS lists no formal educational credential as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness (IPEDS completions).
1 college program at 370 schools trains athletes and sports competitors, graduating 12,973 people a year (IPEDS completions). The job pays a median of $66,710 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About athletes and sports competitors
Compete in athletic events.
Best programs to study to become an athlete
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 31.0501 | 12,973 | 100.0% | 370 | $30,426 | $25,643 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
What athletes and sports competitors earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $79,040 | 830 | 0.47× | 72 | 5,864 |
| Texas | $80,510 | 1,840 | 1.35× | 35 | 845 |
| North Carolina | — | 760 | 1.58× | 15 | 571 |
| Tennessee | — | 640 | 2.00× | 15 | 514 |
| Oklahoma | $44,110 | — | — | 11 | 471 |
| Pennsylvania | $57,100 | 250 | 0.43× | 10 | 372 |
| Utahmoderate | $122,800 | 340 | 2.00× | 3 | 372 |
| Virginia | $61,500 | — | — | 7 | 328 |
| Illinois | — | 310 | 0.53× | 12 | 254 |
| Kentucky | $63,020 | — | — | 6 | 241 |
| Ohio | $39,040 | 590 | 1.09× | 12 | 211 |
| New York | — | 350 | 0.37× | 16 | 156 |
| Missouri | $172,700 | 670 | 2.37× | 10 | 150 |
| Florida | $78,610 | 1,360 | 1.41× | 5 | 137 |
| Georgiamoderate | $77,530 | 840 | 1.77× | 4 | 136 |
| Louisiana | $55,890 | 440 | 2.34× | 5 | 108 |
| Kansas | $63,630 | 170 | 1.23× | 8 | 98 |
| Arizona | $50,090 | 940 | 2.98× | 5 | 97 |
| Indiana | — | 390 | 1.27× | 8 | 76 |
| Marylandmoderate | $48,200 | — | — | 3 | 73 |
| North Dakota | — | 70 | 1.68× | 5 | 37 |
| New Jerseymoderate | $253,870 | 390 | 0.93× | 4 | 35 |
| South Carolinamoderate | $45,720 | 280 | 1.28× | 4 | 30 |
| Connecticutlimited | — | 50 | 0.29× | 1 | 22 |
| Coloradolimited | — | 340 | 1.21× | 2 | 21 |
| Rhode Islandlimited | — | 50 | 0.94× | 1 | 19 |
| Mainelimited | — | 110 | 1.78× | 1 | 6 |
| Alabamalimited | — | 330 | 1.61× | 1 | 4 |
Skills and knowledge
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Assess performance following athletic competition, identifying strengths and weaknesses and making adjustments to improve future performance.
- Maintain equipment used in a particular sport.
- Attend scheduled practice or training sessions.
- Maintain optimum physical fitness levels by training regularly, following nutrition plans, or consulting with health professionals.
- Participate in athletic events or competitive sports, according to established rules and regulations.
- Exercise or practice under the direction of athletic trainers or professional coaches to develop skills, improve physical condition, or prepare for competitions.
- Receive instructions from coaches or other sports staff prior to events and discuss performance afterwards.
- Represent teams or professional sports clubs, performing such activities as meeting with members of the media, making speeches, or participating in charity events.
Skills
- Speaking3.9
- Active Listening3.8
- Critical Thinking3.8
- Monitoring3.3
- Reading Comprehension3.1
- Active Learning3.0
- Learning Strategies2.9
- Writing2.8
Knowledge areas
- Administration and Management3.7
- English Language3.7
- Customer and Personal Service3.6
- Personnel and Human Resources3.4
- Communications and Media3.3
- Education and Training3.2
Abilities
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Static Strength3.9
- Problem Sensitivity3.9
- Oral Expression3.9
- Stamina3.9
- Explosive Strength3.6
Core activities
- Getting Information4.2
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.0
- Analyzing Data or Information4.0
- Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events3.9
- Performing General Physical Activities3.9
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships3.9
How to get in
How to become an athlete
- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Athletes and Sports Competitors1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 31.0501Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become an athlete?+
You do not need a college degree to become an athlete. BLS lists no formal educational credential as the typical entry-level education. The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming an athlete?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job is Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness (IPEDS completions). In all, the NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 program to this job, which graduates about 12,973 people a year.
How much do athletes and sports competitors earn?+
The median is $66,710 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $26,500 at the 10th percentile to $742,310 at the 90th. 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 athletes and sports competitors growing?+
BLS projects a +5.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 2,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
370 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program 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 athletes and sports competitors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Hockey Player, Baseball Player, Race Car Driver, Golf Professional among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2021.
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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