Best degree programs for Coaches and Scouts, ranked by enrollment
4 college programs and 1,042 schools train Coaches and Scouts. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $47,320 median wage, 248,950 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
4 college programs at 1,042 schools train coaches and scouts, graduating 38,990 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Sport and Fitness Administration/Management. The job pays a median of $47,320 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About coaches and scouts
Instruct or coach groups or individuals in the fundamentals of sports for the primary purpose of competition. Demonstrate techniques and methods of participation. May evaluate athletes' strengths and weaknesses as possible recruits or to improve the athletes' technique to prepare them for competition. Those required to hold teaching certifications should be reported in the appropriate teaching category.
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.
4 degree programs that lead to this job
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 31.0504 | 18,633 | 47.8% | 666 | $30,426 | $25,643 |
| 2 | CIP 31.0501 | 12,973 | 33.3% | 370 | $30,426 | $25,643 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1314 | 7,066 | 18.1% | 415 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 4 | CIP 42.2815 | 318 | 0.8% | 18 | $33,805 | $27,000 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What coaches and scouts 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 | $47,660 | 31,150 | 1.07× | 91 | 6,601 |
| Texas | $36,510 | 15,300 | 0.68× | 66 | 2,301 |
| New York | $59,920 | 11,220 | 0.72× | 55 | 2,088 |
| Ohio | $46,530 | 13,150 | 1.48× | 52 | 1,849 |
| Florida | $39,370 | 18,120 | 1.14× | 26 | 1,622 |
| North Carolina | $43,840 | 8,530 | 1.08× | 37 | 1,561 |
| Virginia | $46,290 | 6,810 | 1.03× | 20 | 1,325 |
| Louisiana | $60,960 | 2,550 | 0.82× | 12 | 1,174 |
| Tennessee | $37,780 | 6,250 | 1.19× | 27 | 1,170 |
| Pennsylvania | $48,730 | 8,170 | 0.84× | 44 | 1,102 |
| Illinois | $49,120 | 8,840 | 0.91× | 37 | 1,054 |
| Georgia | $48,210 | 4,510 | 0.58× | 25 | 1,044 |
| Michigan | $47,050 | 7,910 | 1.12× | 33 | 986 |
| South Carolina | $42,950 | 3,310 | 0.90× | 22 | 961 |
| Oklahoma | $41,160 | 2,420 | 0.88× | 28 | 951 |
| Massachusetts | $55,130 | 6,310 | 1.08× | 24 | 917 |
| Kentucky | $35,570 | 2,800 | 0.87× | 19 | 891 |
| Iowa | $49,350 | 3,410 | 1.37× | 20 | 790 |
| Kansas | $42,900 | 3,300 | 1.44× | 26 | 790 |
| West Virginia | $52,050 | 910 | 0.81× | 10 | 733 |
| Alabama | — | 3,140 | 0.93× | 19 | 697 |
| Mississippi | — | 1,770 | 0.95× | 18 | 662 |
| Minnesota | $48,050 | 4,680 | 0.99× | 32 | 600 |
| Missouri | $42,790 | 4,730 | 1.01× | 27 | 598 |
| Wisconsin | $44,800 | 5,480 | 1.16× | 20 | 542 |
| New Jersey | $76,700 | 5,670 | 0.83× | 20 | 498 |
| Indiana | $44,480 | 5,960 | 1.16× | 23 | 471 |
| Utah | $45,680 | 2,940 | 1.06× | 9 | 471 |
| Arkansas | $38,930 | 2,070 | 0.99× | 17 | 451 |
| New Hampshire | $51,490 | 870 | 0.79× | 9 | 404 |
| Maryland | $50,590 | 3,960 | 0.90× | 12 | 329 |
| District of Columbia | $65,360 | 630 | 0.56× | 5 | 321 |
| Washington | $48,030 | 11,790 | 2.07× | 9 | 317 |
| Connecticut | $54,790 | 4,070 | 1.50× | 14 | 316 |
| Oregon | $48,960 | 3,930 | 1.25× | 13 | 316 |
| Arizona | $53,130 | 4,120 | 0.79× | 12 | 315 |
| Nebraska | $47,810 | 1,180 | 0.72× | 14 | 270 |
| North Dakota | $37,100 | 1,180 | 1.72× | 10 | 179 |
| Idaho | $46,600 | 1,410 | 1.02× | 7 | 154 |
| Colorado | $47,110 | 4,120 | 0.90× | 10 | 141 |
| Delawaremoderate | $45,200 | 600 | 0.77× | 4 | 137 |
| Maine | $43,640 | 1,060 | 1.03× | 6 | 136 |
| New Mexico | $49,980 | 590 | 0.42× | 6 | 135 |
| South Dakota | $36,360 | 1,290 | 1.76× | 6 | 122 |
| Vermontmoderate | $59,990 | 630 | 1.29× | 3 | 104 |
| Montana | $48,020 | 990 | 1.21× | 7 | 82 |
| Rhode Island | $53,630 | 1,170 | 1.46× | 5 | 53 |
| Hawaiilimited | $55,860 | 760 | 0.76× | 2 | 20 |
| Wyomingmoderate | $49,420 | 470 | 1.05× | 4 | 19 |
| Nevadalimited | $51,020 | 2,390 | 0.96× | 2 | 3 |
| Alaskalimited | $41,170 | 350 | 0.68× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
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
- Plan, organize, and conduct practice sessions.
- Provide training direction, encouragement, motivation, and nutritional advice to prepare athletes for games, competitive events, or tours.
- Adjust coaching techniques, based on the strengths and weaknesses of athletes.
- Instruct individuals or groups in sports rules, game strategies, and performance principles, such as specific ways of moving the body, hands, or feet, to achieve desired results.
- Plan strategies and choose team members for individual games or sports seasons.
- Monitor the academic eligibility of student athletes.
- Counsel student athletes on academic, athletic, and personal issues.
- Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of opposing teams to develop game strategies.
Skills
- Speaking4.4
- Learning Strategies4.1
- Monitoring4.1
- Reading Comprehension4.0
- Active Listening4.0
- Critical Thinking4.0
- Active Learning3.9
- Writing3.6
Knowledge areas
- Education and Training3.8
- English Language3.7
- Administration and Management3.6
- Psychology3.6
- Customer and Personal Service3.5
- Communications and Media3.3
Abilities
- Oral Expression4.6
- Oral Comprehension4.1
- Speech Clarity4.0
- Speech Recognition4.0
- Information Ordering3.9
- Originality3.9
Core activities
- Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships4.5
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.3
- Coaching and Developing Others4.3
- Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work4.3
- Developing and Building Teams4.2
- Getting Information4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Coach
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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Coaches and Scouts4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1314Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
- 31.0501Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness, General
- 31.0504Sport and Fitness Administration/Management
- 42.2815Performance and Sport Psychology
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 a Coach?+
Bachelor's 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 18,633 degrees in 2024-25, 47.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Coach?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Sports, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Clinical. Together they graduate about 38,990 people a year.
How much do coaches and scouts earn?+
The median is $47,320 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $28,790 at the 10th percentile to $98,860 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 coaches and scouts growing?+
BLS projects a +6.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 41,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
1,042 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 coaches and scouts work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Coach, Football Coach, Basketball Coach, Track and Field Coach among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2022.
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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