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

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

20 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 #17 most popular major in Illinois with 2,396 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. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 20 schools in Illinois 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 Illinois

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 Illinois State University the best school in Illinois for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#3

North Park University

Chicago, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend North Park University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large city of Chicago, North Park is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St Francis. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.

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#5

North Central College

Naperville, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend North Central College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. North Central is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Naperville.

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#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Eastern Illinois University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the distant town of Charleston, EIU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

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#7

Monmouth College

Monmouth, IL

Monmouth College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the town of Monmouth, Monmouth is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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Benedictine 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 #8 on the list. Benedictine U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Lisle.

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With a ranking of #9, University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. UIC is a very large public school located in the large city of Chicago.

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#10

Quincy University

Quincy, IL

Quincy University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Quincy U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Quincy.

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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 1,818
Michigan 2,279
Ohio 2,647
Wisconsin 1,001

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 20 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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