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Sports editor education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a sports editor. Sports editors usually study journalism, communication, or english. 85% of sports editors hold a bachelor's degree, and 7% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 4,429 real sports editor resumes to see exactly what sports editor education sections show.

The most common colleges for sports editors are the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania State University.

There are also many online sports editor courses to help get the education required to be a sports editor.

What education do you need to become a sports editor?

What degree do you need to be a sports editor?

The most common degree for sports editors is bachelor's degree, with 85% of sports editors earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 7% and associate degree degree at 4%.
  • Bachelor's, 85%
  • Associate, 7%
  • Master's, 4%
  • High School Diploma, 2%
  • Other Degrees, 2%

What should I major in to become a sports editor?

You should major in journalism to become a sports editor. 37% of sports editors major in journalism. Other common majors for a sports editor include communication and english.

Most common colleges for sports editors

Sports editors often get their degrees at Pennsylvania State University, University of Iowa, and Western Washington University. Here are the most common colleges for sports editors in the US based on their resumes.
Sports editor common collegePercentages
Pennsylvania State University7.84%
University of Iowa7.21%
Western Washington University6.27%
University of Wisconsin Colleges5.96%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill5.64%

Best majors for sports editors

RankMajorPercentages
1Journalism37.2%
2Communication25.2%
3English8.2%
4History3.1%
5Agricultural Public Services2.8%

Best colleges for sports editors

The best colleges for sports editors are Northwestern University, Washington University in St Louis, and New York University.

A sports editor with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for sports editors. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become sports editors.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

3. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

4. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

In-state tuition

$53,399

Enrollment

7,356

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

7. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

8. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

9. American University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$48,459

Enrollment

7,485

10. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

20 best online courses for sports editors

Advertising disclosure

1. Sports Marketing

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Today, there is demand for people skilled in Sports Marketing. Organizations want your expertise to strength and grow customer bases and teams want to enlarge their fan base, attract new sponsors to their sport, build strong programs with existing sponsors, and run their fan conventions and other events. In addition, a wide range of companies recognize the value sports relationships have in positioning and building their brands. In this Sports Marketing MOOC, you will learn: — Ticket pricing...

2. Sports Performance Analytics

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Sports analytics has emerged as a field of research with increasing popularity propelled, in part, by the real-world success illustrated by the best-selling book and motion picture, Moneyball. Analysis of team and player performance data has continued to revolutionize the sports industry on the field, court, and ice as well as in living rooms among fantasy sports players and online sports gambling.\n\nDrawing from real data sets in Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball...

3. Applied Sport Psychology and Leadership in Sport Certificate

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4.4
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Enhance your knowledge of sport psychology from an athlete or coach perspective with this comprehensive applied course...

4. Sport Psychology for Athletes

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4.7
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Master the fundamentals of sport psychology to improve performance and gain a mental edge...

5. Activism in Sports and Culture

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Sports have become an ever-present reflection of American culture, and an important symbol of the divisions and alliances in our society. Sports and political change walk hand in hand in America. The way that athletes and institutions deal with questions of race, economic hardship, nationalism, and political ties have become central to the way that we understand ourselves and our society. And yet, there are those who would prefer their sports free of controversy and opinion. Dedicated athletes,...

6. Data Analytics in Sports Law and Management

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Athletes, lawyers and team executive experts provide insight in how law and regulations intersect with data analytics and sports management techniques for best practices in the sports industry. Several courses provide the basis for how data analytics function within player evaluation, team performance, and roster management. The specialization introduces various regulatory, managerial and legal frameworks that includes athlete representation, facilities, and event management and conclude with...

7. Introductory Sport Psychology

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Developing sport psychology skills that you can use when you train, compete or coach...

8. Sports Nutrition for Athletes and Fitness Enthusiasts

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Learn all about sports nutrition with 7 hours of online video content and start training SMARTER instead of HARDER...

9. Introduction to Machine Learning in Sports Analytics

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In this course students will explore supervised machine learning techniques using the python scikit learn (sklearn) toolkit and real-world athletic data to understand both machine learning algorithms and how to predict athletic outcomes. Building on the previous courses in the specialization, students will apply methods such as support vector machines (SVM), decision trees, random forest, linear and logistic regression, and ensembles of learners to examine data from professional sports leagues...

10. Sports Turf Management: Best Practices

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The Sports Turf Management: Best Practices course will cover the construction, management, and challenges in maintaining athletic fields intended for football, soccer, and baseball. You will learn the fundamental management practices for maintaining athletic fields, such as fertilization, irrigation, mowing, and pest control. An overview of athletic field construction, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of native soil versus modified soil fields, will be provided. Lastly, you will...

11. Sports Management: The Essentials Course

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4.5
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A Comprehensive Overview at How the Sports Industry Operates and the Challenges Facing the Modern Sports Industry Today...

12. Sports Massage: The Technique Masterclass

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4.8
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Learn the most effective sports massage techniques for the entire body (2 CEUs)...

13. Prediction Models with Sports Data

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In this course the learner will be shown how to generate forecasts of game results in professional sports using Python. The main emphasis of the course is on teaching the method of logistic regression as a way of modeling game results, using data on team expenditures. The learner is taken through the process of modeling past results, and then using the model to forecast the outcome games not yet played. The course will show the learner how to evaluate the reliability of a model using data on...

14. Build Sports Management System using JavaFX

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By the end of this project, you will create a Sport Club Management System using JavaFX. This project will give you a great push towards mastering one of the most used programming languages in the world which is Java. In this project, you will be able to identify and apply many functions and features in JavaFX using SceneBuilder, which is a third-party application used to create a JavaFX GUI easily. You will also learn how to create controller classes in Eclipse that consist of methods that...

15. Internationally Accredited Diploma in Sports Nutrition

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Learn About The Fundamentals Of Sport Nutrition Science And How To Fuel Your Athlete Client...

16. Sports Massage: Positional Release Certificate Course

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Learn Sports Massage Positional Release Techniques to produce profound pain relief and improve bodily function (2 CEUs)...

17. The Science of Training Young Athletes

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Seventy percent of kids drop out of sports before their high school graduation. Only 15% leave because they feel they are not good enough. Almost 70% leave because they were not having fun, or due to problems with the coach. Injuries cause 30% to give up sports. This course is packed full of practical sports science information that provide youth coaches and parents with the practical pediatric sports science insights to successfully retain young athletes and develop their sport potential while...

18. Ashiatsu or Shiatsu Barefoot Sports Massage Therapy

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4.5
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Let your feet do the work for you!...

19. Sports Massage: Muscle Energy Technique Certificate Course

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4.7
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Grow your practice by learning sports massage the power of muscle energy techniques (2 CEUs)...

20. Sports & Action Photography For Beginners

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4.7
(400)

A foundational course for beginner and novice level photographers who want to learn how to photograph dynamic subjects...

Top 10 most affordable universities for sports editors

The most affordable schools for sports editors are Baruch College of the City University of New York, university of florida, and brigham young university.

If the best universities for sports editors are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for sports editors.

1. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

2. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

3. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

4. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

5. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

6. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

7. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

8. University of Houston - Victoria

Victoria, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$6,491

Cost of attendance

19,075

9. University of Central Florida

Orlando, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,368

Cost of attendance

21,034

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for sports editors

The hardest universities for sports editors to get into are Northwestern University, Washington University in St Louis, and New York University.

Some great schools for sports editors are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for sports editors based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

3. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

6. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

7. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

8. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

9. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

Admissions rate

39%

SAT average

1,367

10. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for sports editors

The easiest schools for sports editors to get into are Notre Dame de Namur University, grand view university, and saint joseph's college of maine.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a sports editor without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for sports editors.

1. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

2. Grand View University

Des Moines, IA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,060

3. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

4. Rochester University

Rochester Hills, MI • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,002

5. Our Lady of the Lake University

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,002

6. Rosemont College

Rosemont, PA • Private

Admissions rate

89%

SAT average

1,026

7. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

8. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

9. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

10. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

991

Average sports editor salary by education level

According to our data, sports editors with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $58,757 annually. Sports editors with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $55,604.
Sports editor education levelSports editor salary
Master's Degree$55,604
Bachelor's Degree$51,556
Doctorate Degree$58,757

Sports editor education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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