2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region
9Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
475Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$33,140Avg Early-Career Salary
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #166 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.
College Factual looked at 9 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 475 degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Degree Level
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 the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
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 Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the Great Lakes Region
The schools below may not offer all types of parks & rec degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Every student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to take a look at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 142 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $7,944 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
It's difficult to beat Indiana University - Bloomington if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were about 160 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career wages of $35,063.
It is difficult to beat Ohio University - Athens Campus if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the distant town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #239 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means OHIO Athens is a great university overall.
There were roughly 35 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at OHIO Athens in the most recent data year.
It's hard to beat Southern Illinois University Carbondale if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. SIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Carbondale. This university ranks 23rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 44 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at SIUC in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients usually make about $25,457 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the fringe town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 23rd out of 96 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were roughly 45 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at BGSU in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients generally make about $32,248 in their early careers.
University of Toledo is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Toledo. This university ranks 19th out of 96 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were roughly 14 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at University of Toledo in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies major at University of Toledo get $6,811 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Aurora. A Best Colleges rank of #354 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Aurora is a great university overall.
There were about 4 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Aurora in the most recent data year.
Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Bourbonnais. This university ranks 33rd out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 6 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Olivet Nazarene in the most recent year we have data available.
Northern Michigan University is a moderately-sized public university located in the remote town of Marquette. This university ranks 34th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 16 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Northern Michigan University in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career earnings of $24,288.
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.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
college factual
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
