2026 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Washington
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies programs are offered at a focused set of schools across the country. The schools below stand out for the quality of their parks, recreation & leisure studies programs.
For its 2026 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for parks, recreation & leisure studies students pursuing a degree.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Washington
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the parks, recreation & leisure studies degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies
No school ranked higher than Western Washington University this year for parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Bellingham, Western Washington University is a large public university. About 65% of students finish within six years. Western Washington University awarded about 31 parks, recreation & leisure studies degrees in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, parks, recreation & leisure studies degree recipients from Western Washington University generally make around $27,558. Typical student debt for the program is $17,897.
See the full parks, recreation & leisure studies program report for Western Washington University
More Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Rankings
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Notes and References
This ranking is produced by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on a blend of student outcomes (graduation rate, post-graduation earnings), affordability, and program focus, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 2 schools evaluated.
- 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 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
