2023 Most Popular Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in North Carolina

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 North Carolina, there were 125 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $24,565 and $24,350 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. To top this list, a school must have a successful parks, recreation and leisure studies program that graduates more students in the field than other colleges that offer the same major.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina”.

Top 7 Most Popular Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in North Carolina

1

University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina

#11 overall quality in North Carolina

$37,140 Average Early-Career Earnings

$24,817 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of North Carolina at Greensboro. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina list. UNC Greensboro is a public institution located in Greensboro, North Carolina. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 64 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at UNC Greensboro

2

East Carolina University
Greenville, North Carolina

#6 overall quality in North Carolina

$44,403 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,526 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend East Carolina University. The school came in at #2 for the Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina. ECU is a large public school situated in Greenville, North Carolina. It awarded 37 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at East Carolina University

3

Mars Hill University
Mars Hill, North Carolina

$36,792 Average Early-Career Earnings

$27,957 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Mars Hill University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina list. This small school is located in Mars Hill, North Carolina, and it awarded 9 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Mars Hill University

3

University of Mount Olive
Mount Olive, North Carolina

$41,660 Average Early-Career Earnings

$31,105 Average Student Debt

Out of the 7 schools in the Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Mount Olive landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Mount Olive, North Carolina, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 9 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

Full University of Mount Olive Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

5

Shaw University
Raleigh, North Carolina

$23,857 Average Early-Career Earnings

$37,476 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Shaw University. The school came in at #5 for the Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina. Shaw University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Raleigh, North Carolina. It awarded 6 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

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

6

Brevard College
Brevard, North Carolina

$27,946 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,000 Average Student Debt

With a ranking of #6, Brevard College did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina list. This small school is located in Brevard, North Carolina, and it awarded 0 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Brevard College

6

Catawba College
Salisbury, North Carolina

$28,378 Average Early-Career Earnings

$25,194 Average Student Debt

With a ranking of #6, Catawba College did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in North Carolina list. Catawba College is located in Salisbury, North Carolina and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Catawba College

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