Why this program?

You are passionate about the outdoors. You are oriented toward equity and social justice, and want the skills needed to break barriers and foster holistic and experiential learning for all. Interdisciplinary skills gained: technical outdoor skills, social justice literacy, ecological knowledge, interpersonal fluency, and teaching competency.


What can you do with this degree?

Not only can you become a successful professional outdoor educator, but you can apply all your skills and knowledge to any field that requires effective communication, people skills, risk assessment, and problem solving (kind of everything). The question isn’t what can you do, the question is what can’t you do:

  • Outdoor Education
  • Field Instruction (e.g. Outward Bound)
  • Activism and Advocacy
  • Outdoor-based Non-Profit
  • Wilderness Therapy
  • Nature-Based/Adventure Therapy
  • Rock Climbing Guide
  • River Guide
  • Adaptive Sports Instruction
  • Mountaineering Guide
  • Avalanche Forecasting and Education
  • Ski Patrol
  • Field Operations
  • Careers in Public Land Management
  • Forest Service/ Wilderness Ranger
  • Interpretative Naturalist
  • Teacher
  • Nature-based Educator
  • College Professor

What will this program look like?

We are experiential. Students apply everything they learn in the classroom to field settings through practicums, field expeditions, and special projects.

We are field-based. We spend at least 50% of our time learning in a field setting. Some expeditionary classes are 100% field-based like Environmental Perspectives & White-Water Rafting. Others like Intro to Rock Climbing take place in-town as well as in the classroom.

Key program information

Start Dates:
August 20, 2024
January 14, 2025

Application Deadlines:
August 5, 2024
January 2, 2025

Application Checklist

  • Completed Application
  • Official transcripts
  • List of References
  • Essay

Admissions & Apply

Careers & Opportunities

Adventure education on the river

Career Pathways

You’d be amazed at all the careers this degree has taken our graduates:

  • Outdoor Education
  • Outdoor Program Director
  • Outdoor Education Curriculum Writer Developer
  • Field Instructor (e.g. Outward Bound)
  • Activism and Advocacy
  • Director of Outdoor-based Non-Profit
  • Marketing and Advancement for Non-Profits e.g. Adaptive Sports
  • Wilderness Therapy

Career Planning

Our student success team works with you to map out a plan that works, for your goals and your life. There are many ways to get where you’re going, and we’ve seen it all!

The Prescott College alumni raft trip was a tremendous gift to those who joined. It was a wonderful opportunity to not only re-introduce alumni to a memory of life as a student but to each other and to the amazing team that guided the trip.

Are you interested in being part of our community?

One thing we all have in common is our passion – passion for helping others, passion for the environment, passion for social justice and a passion for a different kind of learning experience.