2024 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Washington
7Colleges in Washington
706Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$34,351Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #15 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
College Factual looked at 7 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Washington ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 706 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies rankings. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness 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.
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings by 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, & Fitness Studies Schools in Washington.
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, & Fitness Studies in Washington
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.
It is hard to beat Washington State University if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Wazzu is a very large public university located in the town of Pullman. A Best Colleges rank of #175 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Wazzu is a great university overall.
There were roughly 156 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Wazzu in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Washington State University receive $5,187 more than the typical parks & rec grad.
It is difficult to beat Gonzaga University if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Gonzaga is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Spokane. A Best Colleges rank of #172 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Gonzaga is a great university overall.
There were about 64 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Gonzaga in the most recent year we have data available. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from Gonzaga University receive an earnings boost of approximately $6,757 above the typical income of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies majors.
Seattle University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the large city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #155 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Seattle U is a great university overall.
There were roughly 40 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Seattle U in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies major at Seattle University make $3,888 more than the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Any student who is interested in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to look into Central Washington University. CWU is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Ellensburg. This university ranks 7th out of 51 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were approximately 129 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at CWU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career earnings of $34,568.
Located in the city of Bellingham, WWU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 5th out of 51 schools for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were roughly 116 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at WWU 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 $26,997.
PLU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Tacoma. This university ranks 15th out of 51 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were roughly 42 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at PLU in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make around $27,207 in the first couple years of their career.
EWU is a fairly large public university located in the fringe town of Cheney. This university ranks 14th out of 51 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were approximately 39 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at EWU in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career income of $32,571.
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
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies rankings. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
