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

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

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

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

With 3,436 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies is the #11 most popular major in North Carolina.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

The Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 32 schools in North Carolina to see which ones offered the best bachelor's degree programs 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 North Carolina

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 University of North Carolina at Wilmington the best school in North Carolina for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Wilmington, UNCW is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at North Carolina State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in North Carolina. NC State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Raleigh.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public school located in the city of Chapel Hill.

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Out of the 32 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Charlotte, JWU Charlotte is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#5

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Out of the 32 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, Wake Forest University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Wake Forest University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.

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University of North Carolina at Charlotte landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. UNC Charlotte is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Charlotte.

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Queens University of Charlotte landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the city of Charlotte, Queens is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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University of North Carolina at Pembroke landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the town of Pembroke, UNC Pembroke is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

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Appalachian State 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 #9 on the list. Located in the distant town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public college with a very large student population.

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University of North Carolina at Greensboro 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 #10 on the list. UNC Greensboro is a large public school located in the large city of Greensboro.

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

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

State Degrees Awarded
West Virginia 1,238
South Carolina 1,339
Florida 2,340
Virginia 1,729
Arkansas 1,012
Mississippi 1,128
Louisiana 703
Alabama 959
Kentucky 1,141
Georgia 1,981
Tennessee 2,462

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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