by our College Data Analytics Team
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is the 218th most popular major in the country with 3,106 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.
Across the Great Lakes region, there were 475 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 358 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,343 and $26,790 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region” ranking looked at 19 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation and leisure studies. That schools that top this list have a program in parks, recreation and leisure studies in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region”.
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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region”.
Out of the 19 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Central State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Central State University is a public institution located in Wilberforce, Ohio. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Full Central State University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Indiana University - Bloomington. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region. Indiana University - Bloomington is located in Bloomington, Indiana and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 134 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Indiana University - Bloomington
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bowling Green State University - Main Campus. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region list. BGSU is a public institution located in Bowling Green, Ohio. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 45 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Out of the 19 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Michigan University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Marquette, Michigan, this medium-sized public school handed out 16 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.
Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Northern Michigan University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 99 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #6. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 18 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at SIUC
With a ranking of #7, Olivet Nazarene University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Olivet Nazarene University is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Olivet Nazarene University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report
Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #8. Ohio University - Athens Campus is a public institution located in Athens, Ohio. The school has a large population, and it awarded 28 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Indiana Institute of Technology did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #9. Indiana Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit institution located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Full Indiana Tech Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report
With a ranking of #10, Aurora University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Aurora University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Aurora, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Aurora
With a ranking of #11, Western Michigan University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region list. WMU is a fairly large public school situated in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It awarded 0 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at WMU
With a ranking of #11, Spring Arbor University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Spring Arbor is a private not-for-profit institution located in Spring Arbor, Michigan. The school has a small population, and it awarded 0 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Spring Arbor
With a ranking of #11, Ohio University - Southern Campus did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region list. Ohio University - Southern Campus is a small public school situated in Ironton, Ohio. It awarded 0 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Ohio University - Southern Campus
University of Toledo came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. University of Toledo is a fairly large public school situated in Toledo, Ohio. It awarded 14 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
Full University of Toledo Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report
Ohio University - Eastern Campus landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Saint Clairsville, Ohio is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at OHIO Eastern
Indiana Institute of Technology - College of Professional Studies came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Fort-Wayne, Indiana is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.
Ohio University - Chillicothe Campus did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #11. OHIO Chillicothe is located in Chillicothe, Ohio and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at OHIO Chillicothe
Ohio University - Zanesville Campus came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Ohio University - Zanesville Campus is located in Zanesville, Ohio and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at OHIO Zanesville
Ohio University - Lancaster Campus did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #11. Ohio University - Lancaster Campus is located in Lancaster, Ohio and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Full OHIO Lancaster Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
