2023 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in District of Columbia

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2020-2021, 73,813 people earned their degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the 15th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,423 and had an average of $24,388 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 319 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,207 and $21,848 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 106 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $47,584 and $27,317 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia”.

Top 3 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in District of Columbia

1

Howard University
Washington, District of Columbia

#6 overall quality in District of Columbia

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, Howard University landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 92 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.

Full Howard University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

2

Gallaudet University
Washington, District of Columbia

#5 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Gallaudet University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia list. Gallaudet University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 14 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full Gallaudet Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

3

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 overall quality in District of Columbia

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #3 spot on the list. GWU is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 37 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full GWU Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

• Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness 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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.