2023 Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Virginia” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 3,106 people earned their degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies, making the major the 166th most popular in the United States. 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 Virginia, there were 74 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,562 and $26,239 respectively.

This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia” ranking looked at 4 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia

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

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

1

Virginia Wesleyan University
Virginia Beach, Virginia

$32,697 Average Early-Career Earnings

$27,969 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Virginia Wesleyan University. The school came in at #1 for the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia. Virginia Wesleyan University is a small school located in Virginia Beach, Virginia that handed out 23 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Full Virginia Wesleyan University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

2

Ferrum College
Ferrum, Virginia

$31,871 Average Early-Career Earnings

$28,283 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Ferrum College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia list. This small school is located in Ferrum, Virginia, and it awarded 10 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Full Ferrum College Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

3

Radford University
Radford, Virginia

#21 overall quality in Virginia

$43,099 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,974 Average Student Debt

Out of the 4 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Radford University landed the #3 spot on the list. Radford University is a medium-sized school located in Radford, Virginia that handed out 41 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Radford University

4

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia

#8 overall quality in Virginia

$47,786 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,098 Average Student Debt

Out of the 4 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #4 spot on the list. Virginia Commonwealth University is a large public school situated in Richmond, Virginia. It awarded 0 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University

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