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

What traits are you looking for in a parks and rec school? To help you decide if Western Illinois University is right for you, we've gathered the following information about the school's parks and rec program.

WIU is located in Macomb, Illinois and has a total student population of 7,490. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 71 students received a bachelor's degree in parks and rec from WIU.

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.

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

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

WIU Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings

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

Note: While rankings may be a good starting point when you're researching a school, they don't necessarily highlight all of a school's strengths. Don't forget to check out the other details that are available for a school to see if it has what you're looking for in a program.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The parks and rec major at WIU 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
Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools	44
Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools	212
Most Focused Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools	280
Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools	312

In 2021, 47 students received their master’s degree in parks and rec from WIU. This makes it the #48 most popular school for parks and rec master’s degree candidates in the country.

Parks & Rec Student Demographics at WIU

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

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

Of the 71 students who graduated with a bachelor’s in parks and rec from WIU in 2021, 45% were men and 55% were women.

About 63% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in parks and rec at WIU 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 Western Illinois University with a bachelor's in parks and rec.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	14
Hispanic or Latino	9
White	45
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

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

Of the 47 students who graduated with a master’s in parks and rec from WIU in 2021, 57% were men and 43% were women.

Of the students who received a parks and rec master's degree from WIU, 68% 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 Western Illinois University with a master's in parks and rec.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	6
Hispanic or Latino	4
White	32
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	2

WIU 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

The following parks and rec concentations are available at Western Illinois University. The table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Western Illinois University. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health & Physical Education	64
Recreation Administration	54

Related Majors

• 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 Western Illinois 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 IlliniGradResearch under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.