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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

33 Colleges
$28,979 Avg Salary
$24,973 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree School for You

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #14 most popular major in California with 11,237 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 33 schools in California to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for parks and rec majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo the best school in California for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public school with a very large student population.

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#3

Westmont College

Santa Barbara, CA

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Westmont College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in California. Westmont is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means San Jose State University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#5

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of San Francisco. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. USFCA is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

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University of the Pacific came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Pacific is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Stockton.

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Point Loma Nazarene University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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With a ranking of #8, California Baptist University did quite well on this year’s best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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With a ranking of #9, California State University - East Bay did quite well on this year’s best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Cal State East Bay is a large public school located in the suburb of Hayward.

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#10

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 673
Oregon 629
Hawaii 171
Nevada 273
Alaska 35

Parks & Rec Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 67,146
Recreation Administration 3,122
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 3,106
Outdoor Education 265
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 174

Majors Similar to Parks & Rec

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 142,610
Public Administration & Social Service 98,583
Legal Professions 61,055
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 4,477

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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