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2023 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Southwest Region

10 Ranked Colleges
59 Degrees Awarded
$33,100 Avg Cost*
Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 the Southwest region, there were 10,228 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,393 and $22,734 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 59 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,218 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region” ranking looked at 10 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. That schools that top this list have a program in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region” list to help you make the college 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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region”.

Top 10 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Southwest Region

1

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Oklahoma State University - Main Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region. Oklahoma State University - Main Campus is a large public school situated in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It awarded 11 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Full Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

2
UH crest
University of Houston
Houston, Texas

Out of the 10 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Houston landed the #2 spot on the list. UH is a large public school situated in Houston, Texas. It awarded 13 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.4% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

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

3

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Texas Woman’s University. The school came in at #3 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region. TWU is located in Denton, Texas and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 4 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at TWU

4

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Texas at Austin. The school came in at #4 for the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region. This large school is located in Austin, Texas, and it awarded 10 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at Austin

5
Baylor crest
Baylor University
Waco, Texas

Out of the 10 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Baylor University landed the #5 spot on the list. Baylor is located in Waco, Texas and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

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

6

With a ranking of #6, Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region list. This large school is located in College Station, Texas, and it awarded 7 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas A&M University - College Station

7
TCU crest
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas

Texas Christian University landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region ranking. Fort Worth, Texas is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to 1 students in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas Christian University

8

With a ranking of #8, Arizona State University - Tempe did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region list. ASU - Tempe is a public institution located in Tempe, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 6 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Full Arizona State University - Tempe Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

9

The University of Texas at Arlington ranked #9 on this year’s Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region list. The University of Texas at Arlington is a large public school situated in Arlington, Texas. It awarded 4 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington

10

New Mexico State University - Main Campus came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in the Southwest Region ranking. This fairly large school is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and it awarded 81 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at NMSU Main Campus

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