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Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools

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2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools

27 Colleges
$42,720 Avg Salary

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 Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 27 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular master's degree programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Colleges.

Our 2023 rankings named University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign the most popular school in the United States for parks, recreation and leisure studies students working on their master’s degree. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

About 56% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 44% are male.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana University - Bloomington. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public school with a very large student population.

Of the 26 students majoring in parks and rec at IU Bloomington, 15% are male and 85% are female.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Indiana University - Bloomington

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 42% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 58% are male.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Report

#4

SUNY Cortland

Cortland, NY

The in-demand master’s degree programs at SUNY Cortland helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation and leisure studies schools in the United States. Located in the distant town of Cortland, SUNY Cortland is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Of the 18 students majoring in parks and rec at SUNY Cortland, 28% are male and 72% are female.

Read More…

#5

University of Toledo

Toledo, OH

Out of the 27 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Toledo landed the # 5 spot on the list. University of Toledo is a fairly large public school located in the city of Toledo.

Women make up 50% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read More…

#6

University of Utah

Salt Lake City, UT

With a ranking of #6, University of Utah did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation and leisure studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public college with a very large student population.

Of the 12 students majoring in parks and rec at U of U, 33% are male and 67% are female.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Utah Report

California State University - Long Beach ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

Women make up 44% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Long Beach Report

Southern Oregon University ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the midsize suburb of Ashland, Southern Oregon University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Of the 8 students majoring in parks and rec at Southern Oregon University, 63% are male and 38% are female.

Read More…

#8

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

University of Northern Iowa did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation and leisure studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Of the 8 students majoring in parks and rec at UNI, 63% are male and 38% are female.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Northern Iowa Report

Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree parks, recreation and leisure studies programs. OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the town of Athens.

Of the 7 students majoring in parks and rec at OHIO Athens, 57% are male and 43% are female.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Ohio University - Athens Campus

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies by Region

View the Most Popular Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

One of 4 majors within the area of study, parks, recreation and leisure studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

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 27 schools only.

  • 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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