2023 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 3,106 people earned a degree or certificate in parks, recreation and leisure studies, making the major the #169 most popular in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 16 schools in the United States to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Colleges.
Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools
Our analysis found University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to be the best school for parks, recreation and leisure studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Champaign.
Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Indiana University - Bloomington. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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Out of the 16 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the # 3 spot on the list. OHIO Athens is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Athens.
Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Ohio University - Athens Campus Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Northern Iowa. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at SUNY Cortland helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation and leisure studies schools in the United States. Located in the town of Cortland, SUNY Cortland is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
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California State University - Long Beach ranked #6 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.
Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Long Beach Report
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University of Utah did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation and leisure studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Oklahoma State University - Main Campus landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation and leisure studies programs. OSU is a very large public school located in the town of Stillwater.
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California State University - Sacramento ranked #9 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public college with a very large student population.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Sacramento
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California State University - Chico landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation and leisure studies programs. Chico State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Chico.
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Request InformationParks, Recreation & Leisure Studies by Region
View the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
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| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
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Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Related Rankings by Major
One of 4 majors within the area of study, parks, recreation and leisure studies has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Majors Related to Parks & Rec
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Health & Physical Education | 67,146 |
| Recreation Administration | 3,122 |
| Outdoor Education | 265 |
| Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies | 174 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 16 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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