College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2023 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Virginia

9 Ranked Colleges
419 Degrees Awarded
$40,659 Avg Salary
Schools for a Master's Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the 15th most popular major in the country with 73,813 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. 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 Virginia, there were 1,741 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,990 and $25,658 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 419 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $58,799 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree 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.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

Rankings by Degree Other Award Levels
Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Parks & Rec Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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.

Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia

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

Top 9 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Virginia

1
Randolph crest
Randolph College
Lynchburg, Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Randolph College. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s parks and rec degrees to 8 students in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.6% 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%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Randolph College

2
Virginia State crest
Virginia State University
Petersburg, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia list. Located in Petersburg, Virginia, this small public school handed out 14 degrees to qualified masters’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Virginia State

3
Hampton crest
Hampton University
Hampton, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Hampton University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia list. Hampton, Virginia is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s parks and rec degrees to 11 students in 2020-2021.

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

4
Liberty University crest
Liberty University
Lynchburg, Virginia

Out of the 9 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Liberty University landed the #4 spot on the list. This large school is located in Lynchburg, Virginia, and it awarded 206 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

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

5
Old Dominion crest
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, Virginia

Out of the 9 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Old Dominion University landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in Norfolk, Virginia, and it awarded 35 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Full Old Dominion Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

6

Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia ranking. Located in Richmond, Virginia, this large public school handed out 47 degrees to qualified masters’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Virginia Commonwealth University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

7
JMU crest
James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia

James Madison University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia ranking. James Madison University is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 34 masters’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.0% 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 James Madison University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

8
University of Virginia crest
University of Virginia - Main Campus
Charlottesville, Virginia

With a ranking of #8, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia list. This large school is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, and it awarded 33 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Virginia - Main Campus

9
GMU crest
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia

George Mason University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in Virginia ranking. George Mason University is a large school located in Fairfax, Virginia that handed out 31 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

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

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

Credits

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options