2024 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Plains States Region
65Colleges in the Plains States Region
5,811Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$31,332Avg Early-Career Salary
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #15 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 65 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 5,811 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
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.
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings by Degree Level
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Plains States Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Plains States Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the parks & rec degrees they offer, see the list below.
10 Top Plains States Region Schools in Parks & Rec
University of Iowa is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #84 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.
There were about 675 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn an average of $31,398 in their early career salary.
It is hard to beat Iowa State University if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Iowa State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Ames. A Best Colleges rank of #75 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 251 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career income of $32,074.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a good decision for students interested in a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. 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 schools nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.
There were roughly 124 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent data year. After graduation, parks & rec degree recipients usually make an average of $31,234 in their early careers.
University of Kansas is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the small city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means KU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 214 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at KU in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $28,152 for their early career.
Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Mankato. A Best Colleges rank of #351 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Minnesota State Mankato is a great university overall.
There were roughly 175 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Minnesota State Mankato in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Minnesota State University - Mankato receive $6,207 more than the standard parks & rec graduate.
Loras is a small private not-for-profit college located in the small city of Dubuque. This college ranks 16th out of 40 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were roughly 32 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Loras in the most recent data year. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from Loras College get an earnings boost of about $2,059 above the typical income of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies majors.
St. Ambrose University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Davenport. This university ranks 10th out of 40 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were about 69 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at St. Ambrose University in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually earn about $25,757 in their early careers.
UNI is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Cedar Falls. A Best Colleges rank of #199 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.
There were roughly 131 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies degree program at University of Northern Iowa make $2,554 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Maryville U is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis. A Best Colleges rank of #202 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Maryville U is a great university overall.
There were approximately 49 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Maryville U in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Maryville University of Saint Louis make $9,248 more than the typical parks & rec grad.
Located in the medium-sized city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #124 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Mizzou is a great university overall.
There were about 120 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Mizzou in the most recent year we have data available. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from University of Missouri - Columbia earn a boost of approximately $3,056 above the average income of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduates.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Plains States Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
college factual
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
