2023 Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is the 166th most popular major in the country with 3,106 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,801 and had an average of $23,333 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 196 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,875 and $20,682 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their parks, recreation and leisure studies program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.

Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois parks & rec students.

Top 4 Most Focused Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Illinois

1

Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Carbondale, Illinois

$42,413 Average Early-Career Earnings

$23,104 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 44 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois

#3 overall quality in Illinois

$53,270 Average Early-Career Earnings

$19,646 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 for the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 142 ’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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at UIUC

3

Olivet Nazarene University
Bourbonnais, Illinois

$44,879 Average Early-Career Earnings

$26,483 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Olivet Nazarene University. The school came in at #3 for the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois. Olivet Nazarene is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Olivet Nazarene University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

4

Aurora University
Aurora, Illinois

#18 overall quality in Illinois

$47,673 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,457 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Aurora University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Illinois list. Aurora University is located in Aurora, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 4 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Aurora Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

• Most Focused Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the Great Lakes Region
• Most Focused Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies

Notes and References

References

• 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.