2024 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region
18Colleges in the Rocky Mountains Region
2,772Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$29,911Avg Early-Career Salary
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #15 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 18 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 2,772 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. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each 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
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 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list to help you make the college decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Rocky Mountains Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the parks & rec degrees they offer, see the list below.
10 Top Rocky Mountains Region Schools in Parks & Rec
University of Utah is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #151 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means U of U is a great university overall.
There were roughly 382 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at U of U in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from University of Utah receive $5,187 more than the typical parks & rec student.
It is difficult to beat Colorado State University - Fort Collins if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Fort Collins, Colorado State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #156 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Colorado State is a great university overall.
There were about 326 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Colorado State in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients typically make about $29,688 in the first five years of their career.
Brigham Young University - Provo is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #100 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means BYU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 267 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at BYU in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies program at Brigham Young University - Provo make $3,756 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
University of Northern Colorado is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. University of Northern Colorado is a moderately-sized public university located in the midsize city of Greeley. This university ranks 9th out of 33 schools for overall quality in the state of Colorado.
There were approximately 202 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at University of Northern Colorado in the most recent year we have data available. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from University of Northern Colorado earn a boost of approximately $7,980 above the typical earnings of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduates.
USU is a very large public university located in the city of Logan. A Best Colleges rank of #341 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 131 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at USU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career wages of $25,661.
Located in the town of Laramie, UW is a public university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #520 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW is a great university overall.
There were roughly 97 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UW in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies degree program at University of Wyoming get $6,001 more than the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Boise State is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Boise. A Best Colleges rank of #526 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Boise State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 97 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Boise State in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Boise State University receive $2,748 more than the standard parks & rec graduate.
Located in the city of Denver, MSU Denver is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 26th out of 33 colleges for overall quality in the state of Colorado.
There were approximately 127 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at MSU Denver in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies major at Metropolitan State University of Denver earn $6,305 above the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the town of Moscow, U of I is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #489 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means U of I is a great university overall.
There were approximately 47 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at U of I in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn about $27,817 in the first couple years of their career.
Located in the town of Durango, FLC is a public college with a small student population. This college ranks 25th out of 33 schools for overall quality in the state of Colorado.
There were roughly 65 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at FLC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career earnings of $23,102.
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. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
