2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in
parks, recreation & leisure studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #123 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 62 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,584 bachelor's degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The parks & rec bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality parks & rec program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on parks, recreation & leisure studies students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other parks, recreation & leisure studies students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
- Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
- Student Debt - How much debt parks, recreation & leisure studies students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized parks, recreation & leisure studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for parks, recreation & leisure studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the United States
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for parks, recreation & leisure studies students seeking a a bachelor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in Parks & Rec
It's hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign get $5,515 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to take a look at Indiana University - Bloomington. IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the city of Bloomington.
Bachelor's recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies program at Indiana University - Bloomington earn $3,808 above the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Indiana University - Bloomington
California State University - Long Beach is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the city of Long Beach.
Bachelor's recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies major at California State University - Long Beach earn $3,331 above the typical college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California State University - Long Beach
It's difficult to beat Brigham Young University - Provo if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. BYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Provo.
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies bachelor's degree recipients from Brigham Young University - Provo receive an earnings boost of approximately $11,645 above the typical income of parks, recreation & leisure studies graduates.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Brigham Young University - Provo
Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies bachelor's degree recipients from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo get an earnings boost of approximately $21,445 over the typical earnings of parks, recreation & leisure studies graduates.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
U of U is a fairly large public university located in the city of Salt Lake City.
Bachelor's recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies program at University of Utah earn $4,456 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Utah
Located in the midsize city of Chico, Chico State is a public university with a large student population.
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies bachelor's degree recipients from California State University - Chico get an earnings boost of approximately $3,172 over the average earnings of parks, recreation & leisure studies graduates.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California State University - Chico
Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public university with a medium-sized student population.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make around $32,498 in their early career salary.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Northern Iowa
San Jose State is a very large public university located in the large city of San Jose.
Those parks, recreation & leisure studies students who get their bachelor's degree from San Jose State University earn $8,405 more than the typical parks & rec student.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from San Jose State University
Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a very large student population.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $29,238 in their early career salary.
More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
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