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2024 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Iowa

12 Colleges in Iowa
1,555 Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$31,634 Avg 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.

College Factual looked at 12 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Iowa ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,555 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Iowa Your choice of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Parks & Rec
Master's Degrees in Parks & Rec
Doctor's Degrees in Parks & Rec

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, & Fitness Studies Schools in Iowa list to help you make the college 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.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Iowa

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 Iowa Schools in Parks & Rec

1
Iowa crest
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
624 Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$31,398 Median Starting Salary

University of Iowa is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Iowa is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Iowa City. A Best Colleges rank of #84 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.

There were roughly 624 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 around $31,398 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of Iowa

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
222 Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$32,074 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies has to take a look at Iowa State University. Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #75 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 222 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 state that they receive average early career earnings of $32,074.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Iowa State University

3
Loras crest
Loras College
Dubuque, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
60 Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
46.7% Growth in Graduates

It's hard to beat Loras College if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Dubuque, Loras is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 16th out of 40 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were roughly 60 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Loras in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $33,391 for their early career.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Loras College

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
75 Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
8.0% Growth in Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to look into Saint Ambrose University. Located in the midsize city of Davenport, St. Ambrose University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #441 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means St. Ambrose University is a great university overall.

There were about 75 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at St. Ambrose University in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually earn around $25,757 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Saint Ambrose University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
117 Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$33,886 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #199 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.

There were roughly 117 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent year we have data available. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from University of Northern Iowa get an earnings boost of approximately $2,252 above the typical earnings of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies majors.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of Northern Iowa

5
Simpson College crest
Simpson College
Indianola, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
13.3% Growth in Graduates
$37,401 Median Starting Salary

Simpson College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the town of Indianola. A Best Colleges rank of #549 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Simpson College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 15 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Simpson College in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Simpson College make $5,767 more than the standard parks & rec grad.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Simpson College

6
Grand View University crest
Grand View University
Des Moines, IA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
72 Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
25.0% Growth in Graduates

Grand View University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Des Moines. This university ranks 26th out of 40 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.

There were approximately 72 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Grand View University in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make an average of $30,232 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Grand View University

7
Cornell College crest
Cornell College
Mount Vernon, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$34,478 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Cornell College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the town of Mount Vernon. This college ranks 820th out of 2,217 schools for overall quality nationwide.

There were approximately 22 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Cornell College in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Cornell College earn $2,844 more than the standard parks & rec grad.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Cornell College

8
Wartburg crest
Wartburg College
Waverly, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
84.2% Growth in Graduates
$31,030 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Waverly, Wartburg is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #575 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Wartburg is a great college overall.

There were about 19 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Wartburg in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make an average of $31,030 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Wartburg College

9
NWC crest
Northwestern College
Orange City, IA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
64.3% Growth in Graduates
$33,080 Median Starting Salary

Located in the distant town of Orange City, NWC is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #493 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means NWC is a great college overall.

There were roughly 28 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at NWC in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, parks & rec degree recipients generally make an average of $33,080 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Northwestern College

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Kansas38710
Minnesota381,137
South Dakota38342
Missouri381,326
Nebraska36429
North Dakota35266

View All Rankings >

Parks & Rec Majors to Study

MajorAnnual Graduates
Health & Physical Education1,464
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies91

View All Parks & Rec Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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