a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation and 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 15 colleges and universities when compiling its 2023 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 489 bachelor's degrees in parks, recreation and leisure studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The parks and rec bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. 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 and leisure studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other parks, recreation and 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 and 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 and 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 and leisure studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools
The parks and 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 the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region.
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 Southeast Region
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies.
10 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Parks & Rec
It's difficult to beat University of Arkansas if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. Located in the city of Fayetteville, UARK is a public university with a very large student population.
Those parks, recreation and leisure studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Arkansas earn $6,710 more than the average parks and rec graduate.
East Carolina University is a good choice for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. ECU is a very large public university located in the city of Greenville.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the parks and rec program earn about $26,887 for their early career.
It's hard to beat Georgia Southern University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. Located in the distant town of Statesboro, GaSou is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the parks and rec program make an average of $29,808 in the first couple years of working.
University of North Carolina at Greensboro is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. UNC Greensboro is a large public university located in the large city of Greensboro.
Soon after graduating, parks and rec bachelor's recipients generally make an average of $24,215 in the first five years of their career.
Shepherd University is a small public university located in the town of Shepherdstown.
Bachelor's recipients from the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at Shepherd University make $6,002 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Radford is a medium-sized public university located in the small suburb of Radford.
Bachelor's recipients from the parks, recreation and leisure studies degree program at Radford University get $2,379 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
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.
college factual
The parks and rec bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
