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

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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 analysis found California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo to be the best school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in California. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public school with a fairly 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 medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Westmont College Report

Out of the 33 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Jose State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. 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

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of San Francisco helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in California. USFCA is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

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University of the Pacific did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Stockton.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of the Pacific

Point Loma Nazarene University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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California Baptist University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the large city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California Baptist University

California State University - East Bay ranked #9 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. 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

With a ranking of #10, National University did quite well on this year’s best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at National University Report

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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