2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools
If you're seeking a Master's Degree in
parks, recreation & leisure studies, you will have fewer peers than average since the major degree program is the #211 one in the country in terms of popularity.While this may limit the number of schools that offer the degree program, there are still top-quality ones to be found.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 15 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 198 master's degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School for Your Master's Degree
The parks & rec master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to parks, recreation & leisure studies students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other parks, recreation & leisure studies students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How much debt parks, recreation & leisure studies students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized parks, recreation & leisure studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for parks, recreation & leisure studies students working on their master's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
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 the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the United States
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for parks, recreation & leisure studies students seeking a a master's degree.
10 Top Schools for a Master's in Parks & Rec
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to look into University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.
Those parks, recreation & leisure studies students who get their master's degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $2,679 more than the average parks & rec student.
More information about a master’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
It's difficult to beat Indiana University - Bloomington if you want to pursue a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Indiana University - Bloomington
University of Northern Iowa is a good decision for students pursuing a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. UNI is a medium-sized public university located in the city of Cedar Falls.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Northern Iowa
It is hard to beat Arizona State University - Tempe if you wish to pursue a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Arizona State University - Tempe
Located in the city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Utah