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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

64 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 #15 most popular major in the country with 73,813 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 64 schools in the Southwest Region to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. The factors used to develop this ranking include those related to how in-demand the school is, the overall quality of the school, and post-graduation wages, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Check out the parks and rec bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

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

#1

Rice University

Houston, TX

Our 2023 rankings named Rice University the best school in the Southwest Region for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.

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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Southern Methodist University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southwest Region . SMU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Dallas.

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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at The University of Texas at Austin helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southwest Region . UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern Oklahoma State University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the remote town of Alva, NWOSU is a public college with a small student population.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Texas A&M University - College Station. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the midsize city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public school with a very large student population.

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#6

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Grand Canyon 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 #6 on the list. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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Arizona State University - Skysong 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. ASU - Skysong is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Scottsdale.

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Lubbock Christian University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. LCU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lubbock.

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University of Houston - Clear Lake ranked #9 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. UH Clear Lake is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Houston.

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#10

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX

Tarleton State University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Tarleton is a large public school located in the town of Stephenville.

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Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX
12 Saint Edward’s University Austin, TX

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 1,071
Texas 7,380
New Mexico 141
Oklahoma 1,179

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

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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