Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Illinois State University

Every parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies school has its own distinct culture and strengths. We've pulled together some statistics and other details to help you see how the parks and rec program at Illinois State University stacks up to those at other schools.

Illinois State is located in Normal, Illinois and has a total student population of 20,720. Of the 4,745 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University in 2021, 156 of them were parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies majors.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies section at the bottom of this page.

Illinois State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Parks & Rec
• Master’s Degree in Parks & Rec

Illinois State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks parks and rec programs across the country. The following shows how Illinois State performed in these rankings.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The parks and rec major at Illinois State is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools	35
Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools	79
Most Focused Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools	448

In 2021, 67 students received their master’s degree in parks and rec from Illinois State. This makes it the #25 most popular school for parks and rec master’s degree candidates in the country.

Parks & Rec Student Demographics at Illinois State

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the parks and rec majors at Illinois State University.

Illinois State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Program

For the most recent academic year available, 51% of parks and rec bachelor's degrees went to men and 49% went to women.

About 69% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in parks and rec at Illinois State are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor's in parks and rec.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	5
Black or African American	13
Hispanic or Latino	14
White	107
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	15

Illinois State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 67 students graduated with a master's degree in parks and rec from Illinois State. About 46% were men and 54% were women.

Of the students who received a parks and rec master's degree from Illinois State, 73% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Illinois State University with a master's in parks and rec.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	3
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	4
White	49
International Students	9
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

Illinois State also has a doctoral program available in parks and rec. In 2021, 0 student graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies majors may want to concentrate their studies in one of these areas. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from Illinois State University. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health & Physical Education	136
Recreation Administration	87

Related Majors

• Legal Professions
• Public Administration & Social Service
• Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting

Careers That Parks & Rec Grads May Go Into

A degree in parks and rec can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for IL, the home state for Illinois State University.

Occupation	Jobs in IL	Average Salary in IL
General and Operations Managers	122,790	$125,990
Fitness Trainers and Aerobics Instructors	16,430	$46,670
Coaches and Scouts	10,670	$38,760
Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Supervisors	3,570	$54,340
Athletic Trainers	1,480	$44,380

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By Willjay under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.