2024 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Maryland
6Colleges in Maryland
862Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$29,850Avg 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.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 6 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Maryland ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 862 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School
Your choice of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Pick Your Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 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 Maryland.
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 Maryland
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.
Any student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to take a look at University of Maryland - College Park. UMCP is a very large public university located in the large suburb of College Park. A Best Colleges rank of #42 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UMCP is a great university overall.
There were about 239 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn around $30,536 in their early career salary.
Towson University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the small city of Towson, Towson is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #248 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Towson is a great university overall.
There were roughly 251 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Towson 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 $30,593.
Mount St Mary's University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. The Mount is a small private not-for-profit university located in the fringe town of Emmitsburg. This university ranks 17th out of 36 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were about 27 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at The Mount in the most recent data year. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from Mount St Mary's University receive an earnings boost of around $3,590 over the average income of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies majors.
McDaniel College is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. McDaniel is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Westminster. This college ranks 19th out of 36 colleges for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were roughly 38 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at McDaniel in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies degree program at McDaniel College get $4,599 above the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the suburb of Salisbury, Salisbury is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #676 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Salisbury is a great university overall.
There were approximately 111 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Salisbury in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career wages of $29,002.
Frostburg State is a small public university located in the suburb of Frostburg. This university ranks 28th out of 36 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were roughly 61 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Frostburg State in the most recent data year. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually make an average of $26,049 in their early careers.
UMES is a small public university located in the fringe town of Princess Anne. This university ranks 33rd out of 36 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were about 32 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UMES in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $28,680 in their early career salary.
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
Your choice of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.
