2023 Most Popular Master’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in South Dakota

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 South Dakota, there were 344 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,046 and $25,408 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 61 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,795 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. This ranking identifies schools that graduate the most students in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s” 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 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.

Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s”.

Top 4 Most Popular Master’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in South Dakota

1

University of South Dakota
Vermillion, South Dakota

#5 overall quality in South Dakota

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of South Dakota. The school came in at #1 for the Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s. University of South Dakota is located in Vermillion, South Dakota and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 27 masters’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.1% 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 USD Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

2

Northern State University
Aberdeen, South Dakota

#11 overall quality in South Dakota

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s list. Located in Aberdeen, South Dakota, this small public school handed out 13 degrees to qualified masters’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.7% 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%.

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

3

Augustana University
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

#3 overall quality in South Dakota

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Augustana University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s list. Sioux Falls, South Dakota 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 12 students in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

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

4

South Dakota State University
Brookings, South Dakota

#1 overall quality in South Dakota

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Dakota State University. The school came in at #4 for the Most Well Attended Parks & Rec Major in South Dakota for a Master’s. Located in Brookings, South Dakota, this fairly large public school handed out 9 degrees to qualified masters’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full South Dakota State University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

• Most Popular Master’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Plains States Region
• Most Popular Master’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.