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Boston Career Explorer

Educational Instruction and Library

Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach courses pertaining to recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, including exercise physiology and facilities management. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Also called: Adjunct Professor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Health and Human Performance Professor, Health and Physical Education Professor (HPE Professor), Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Professor (HPER Professor)

Median pay in Greater Boston
$83,410
Jobs in Greater Boston
160
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+6.0%
20 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Doctoral or professional degree

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$61,500$71,220$83,410$104,710$139,410

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Initiate, facilitate, and moderate classroom discussions.
  • Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Maintain student attendance records, grades, and other required records.
  • Evaluate and grade students' class work, assignments, and papers.
  • Prepare and deliver lectures to undergraduate or graduate students on topics such as anatomy, therapeutic recreation, and conditioning theory.
  • Plan, evaluate, and revise curricula, course content, course materials, and methods of instruction.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure88 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 79
  • Language-model AIOE 92
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 94

Observed AI use today: Some (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure is higher for recreation and fitness studies teachers, and observed AI use is at a "some" level. AI tools can help with course materials, record keeping, and grading. Leading discussions and teaching topics like anatomy and conditioning theory to students still rely on the teacher.

Likely to change

  • Preparing syllabi and handouts
  • Keeping attendance and grade records

Still relies on people

  • Leading and moderating classroom discussions
  • Teaching anatomy and conditioning to students

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

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Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

26 programs near Boston (plus 8 graduate)

Related occupations

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