2023 Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 Massachusetts, there were 20 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,399 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree 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.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

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 Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts”.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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.

Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts”.

Top 3 Most Focused Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Massachusetts

1

Gordon College
Wenham, Massachusetts

$35,219 Average Early-Career Earnings

$26,637 Average Student Debt

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts that were part of this year’s ranking, Gordon College landed the #1 spot on the list. Gordon College is a small school located in Wenham, Massachusetts that handed out 13 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Gordon College

2

Salem State University
Salem, Massachusetts

$43,394 Average Early-Career Earnings

$26,500 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Salem State University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts. Salem, Massachusetts is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 7 students in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Salem State

3

Springfield College
Springfield, Massachusetts

$45,997 Average Early-Career Earnings

$27,219 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Springfield College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Massachusetts list. Springfield College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Springfield, Massachusetts. The school has a small population, and it awarded 0 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Springfield College

• Most Focused Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the New England 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.