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

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

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 Minnesota, there were 64 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,082 and $25,357 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have one of the most popular parks, recreation and leisure studies programs in the United States.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

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 “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota” 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.

Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota

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

Top 3 Most Popular 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 Most Well Attended 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 located in Winona, Minnesota and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 32 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about 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 Most Well Attended 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 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 full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Minnesota - Duluth

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 be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in Minnesota list. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a large school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota that handed out 11 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

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