2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools
64
Colleges in the United States
2,818
Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$31,801
Avg Early-Career Salary
is about average in terms of popularity for degree programs. That is, it ranks #166 out of the 395 majors across the country that we analyze each year. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
College Factual looked at 64 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,818 degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies during the 2021-2022 academic year.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for parks, recreation & leisure 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.
Pick Your Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 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 Studies Schools 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.
Read more about College Factual's methodology.
Best Schools for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the United States
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. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top Schools in Parks & Rec
Any student who is interested in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to take a look at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 145 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation & leisure studies students who get their degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $9,283 more than the typical parks & rec student.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignIt's difficult to beat Indiana University - Bloomington if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were roughly 150 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation & leisure studies students who get their degree from Indiana University - Bloomington make $3,262 more than the typical parks & rec grad.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Indiana University - BloomingtonAny student who is interested in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to look into California State University - Long Beach. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #186 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.
There were roughly 83 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies major at California State University - Long Beach earn $2,785 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California State University - Long BeachIt is difficult to beat Brigham Young University - Provo if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #100 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means BYU is a great university overall.
There were about 105 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at BYU in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies program at Brigham Young University - Provo make $11,099 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Brigham Young University - ProvoCal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public university located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo. A Best Colleges rank of #95 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.
There were approximately 95 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent data year. Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies degree recipients from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo get an earnings boost of about $20,899 over the average income of parks, recreation & leisure studies majors.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis ObispoLocated in the midsize city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public university with a very 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 42 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at U of U in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation & leisure studies students who get their degree from University of Utah receive $3,910 more than the typical parks & rec student.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of UtahChico State is a large public university located in the city of Chico. This university ranks 79th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 103 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Chico State in the most recent data year. Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies degree recipients from California State University - Chico get an earnings boost of approximately $2,626 above the typical earnings of parks, recreation & leisure studies graduates.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from California State University - ChicoLocated in the midsize city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #119 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means ASU - Tempe is a great university overall.
There were approximately 15 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at ASU - Tempe in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, parks & rec degree recipients typically make around $31,566 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from Arizona State University - TempeUNI is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Cedar Falls. A Best Colleges rank of #199 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.
There were roughly 36 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UNI 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 wages of $32,498.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Northern IowaUMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public university located in the city of Minneapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #51 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.
Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career income of $29,238.
More information about a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
