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

If you plan to study parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, take a look at what Western Washington University has to offer and decide if the program is a good match for you. Get started with the following essential facts.

WWU is located in Bellingham, Washington and approximately 15,197 students attend the school each year. In 2021, 112 parks and rec majors received their bachelor's degree from WWU.

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.

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

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

WWU Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks parks and rec programs across the country. The following shows how WWU 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 WWU 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 Master’s Degree Schools	204
Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools	325
Most Focused Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools	498

In 2021, 4 students received their master’s degree in parks and rec from WWU. This makes it the #324 most popular school for parks and rec master’s degree candidates in the country.

Parks & Rec Student Demographics at WWU

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

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

For the most recent academic year available, 43% of parks and rec bachelor's degrees went to men and 57% went to women.

About 75% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in parks and rec at WWU 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 Washington University with a bachelor's in parks and rec.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	5
Black or African American	2
Hispanic or Latino	10
White	84
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	10

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

Of the 4 students who earned a master's degree in Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies from WWU in 2020-2021, 25% were men and 75% were women.

In the parks and rec master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 50% of degree recipients. That is 11% better than the national average.*

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	2
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	1

WWU 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 table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Western Washington University. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health & Physical Education	68
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies	48

Related Majors

• 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 WA, the home state for Western Washington University.

Occupation	Jobs in WA	Average Salary in WA
General and Operations Managers	47,770	$124,810
Coaches and Scouts	12,520	$43,420
Managers	11,280	$125,490
Fitness Trainers and Aerobics Instructors	8,670	$54,220
Landscaping, Lawn Service, and Groundskeeping Supervisors	2,120	$55,720

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 Bobak Ha’Eri under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.