2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools
64
Colleges in the United States
3,106
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
A degree in
parks, recreation & leisure studies is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #218 out of 1506 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 64 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,106 degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Degree Level
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools list to help you make the college decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.
Best Schools for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the United States
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the parks & rec degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top Schools in Parks & Rec
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In IL
142
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
Any student who is interested in parks, recreation & leisure studies has to take a look at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 142 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In IN
160
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
It's difficult to beat Indiana University - Bloomington if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were approximately 160 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Indiana University - Bloomington
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
4th
Most Popular In CA
91
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
Every student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to check out California State University - Long Beach. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #186 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.
There were approximately 91 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California State University - Long Beach
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In UT
110
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
It is difficult to beat Brigham Young University - Provo if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #100 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means BYU is a great university overall.
There were about 110 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at BYU in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Brigham Young University - Provo
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In CA
119
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public university located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo. A Best Colleges rank of #95 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.
There were roughly 119 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
2nd
Most Popular In UT
76
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
Located in the medium-sized city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #151 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means U of U is a great university overall.
There were about 76 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at U of U in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Utah
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
3rd
Most Popular In CA
99
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
Chico State is a large public university located in the midsize city of Chico. This university ranks 79th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 99 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Chico State in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California State University - Chico
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
3rd
Most Popular In AZ
Located in the midsize city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #119 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means ASU - Tempe is a great university overall.
There were about 18 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at ASU - Tempe in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Arizona State University - Tempe
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
1st
Most Popular In IA
60
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
UNI is a moderately-sized public university located in the small city of Cedar Falls. A Best Colleges rank of #199 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.
There were approximately 60 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Northern Iowa
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
3rd
Most Popular In MN
UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the large city of Minneapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #51 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.
There were approximately 11 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities