a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #123 out of 363 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 4 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 194 bachelor's degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies to qualified students.
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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
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 complete 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 the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region 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.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the Middle Atlantic Region
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies.
Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Parks & Rec
Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies has to look into York College of Pennsylvania. YCP is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of York.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn around $33,556 in the first couple years of their career.
Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to take a look at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. Kutztown University is a medium-sized public university located in the fringe town of Kutztown.
After graduating, parks & rec bachelor's recipients usually earn an average of $33,459 in the first five years of their career.
Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Paul Smith's College is a fairly small private not-for-profit college located in the rural area of Paul Smiths.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career wages of $28,309.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest of our data about colleges.