Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign stacks up to those at other schools.

UIUC is located in Champaign, Illinois and approximately 52,679 students attend the school each year. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 259 students received a bachelor's degree in parks and rec from UIUC.

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.

UIUC Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Degrees Available

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

UIUC Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the parks and rec progam at UIUC compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

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 UIUC 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 Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools	19

In 2021, 53 students received their master’s degree in parks and rec from UIUC. This makes it the #35 most popular school for parks and rec master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 5 students who received their doctoral degrees in parks and rec, making the school the #20 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Parks & Rec Student Demographics at UIUC

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

UIUC Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Program

Of the 259 students who graduated with a bachelor’s in parks and rec from UIUC in 2021, 56% were men and 44% were women.

Prospective students may be interested in knowing that this school graduates 4% more racial-ethnic minorities in its parks and rec bachelor's program than the national average.*

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	40
Black or African American	28
Hispanic or Latino	32
White	128
International Students	18
Other Races/Ethnicities	13

UIUC Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Program

During the 2020-2021 academic year, 53 parks and rec majors earned their master's degree from UIUC. Of these graduates, 45% were men and 55% were women.

Of the students who received a parks and rec master's degree from UIUC, 64% 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 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a master's in parks and rec.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	9
Hispanic or Latino	5
White	34
International Students	3
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

UIUC also has a doctoral program available in parks and rec. In 2021, 5 students 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 table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health & Physical Education	175
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies	142

Related Majors

• Legal Professions
• Public Administration & Social Service

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 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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 Beyond My ken under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.