2023 Most Focused Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Minnesota

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota” ranking as one item you can use to help make this 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 Minnesota, there were 64 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,082 and $25,357 respectively.

This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 Minnesota” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. 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 Minnesota

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

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

1

Winona State University
Winona, Minnesota

#13 overall quality in Minnesota

$44,424 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,483 Average Student Debt

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota that were part of this year’s ranking, Winona State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Winona State University is a medium-sized school located in Winona, Minnesota that handed out 32 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% 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%.

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

2

University of Minnesota - Duluth
Duluth, Minnesota

#10 overall quality in Minnesota

$41,529 Average Early-Career Earnings

$24,524 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Duluth. The school came in at #2 for the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota. UMN Duluth is a medium-sized public school situated in Duluth, Minnesota. It awarded 21 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% 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 University of Minnesota - Duluth Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

3

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, Minnesota

#1 overall quality in Minnesota

$50,445 Average Early-Career Earnings

$22,026 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. The school came in at #3 for the Schools Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 11 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% 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%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at UMN Twin Cities

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