2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master's Degree School for You
In 2020-2021, 73,813 people earned a degree or certificate in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the #15 most popular in the United States.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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.
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 Master's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 294 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the parks and rec master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness
Our analysis found University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to be the best school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a very large student population.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of Slippery Rock, SRU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
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Out of the 294 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, South Dakota State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the town of Brookings, South Dakota State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Columbia University in the City of New York is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Northwestern University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Saint Cloud State University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the city of Saint Cloud, St. Cloud State University is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. University of Virginia is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.
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North Carolina State University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Raleigh, NC State is a public school with a very large student population.
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American Public University System came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. American Military University is a fairly large private for-profit school located in the town of Charles Town.
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University of Arkansas came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UARK is a very large public school located in the city of Fayetteville.
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Southern Methodist University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the suburb of Dallas, SMU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Texas A&M University - College Station ranked #12 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools list. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.
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Concordia University, Irvine came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Irvine, Concordia University, Irvine is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Georgetown University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Georgetown is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington.
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University of Wisconsin - River Falls came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the distant town of River Falls, UW - River Falls is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
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University of Florida came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Minnesota - Twin Cities did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #17 on the list. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Minneapolis.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a very large student population.
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Grace College and Theological Seminary came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Grace College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Winona Lake.
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Concordia University, Nebraska ranked #20 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools list. Concordia University, Nebraska is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Seward.
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With a ranking of #21, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did quite well on this year’s best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Iowa State University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Ames, Iowa State is a public college with a very large student population.
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University of Iowa did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #23 on the list. Iowa is a very large public school located in the city of Iowa City.
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United States Sports Academy ranked #24 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Daphne, The Academy is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Additional Noteworthy Schools
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 Master's Degree Schools award.
Rank | College | Location |
---|---|---|
45 | Seattle University | Seattle, WA |
46 | University of Maryland - College Park | College Park, MD |
47 | West Texas A&M University | Canyon, TX |
48 | Gonzaga University | Spokane, WA |
49 | Citadel Military College of South Carolina | Charleston, SC |
50 | University of Miami | Coral Gables, FL |
51 | University of Missouri - Columbia | Columbia, MO |
52 | Colorado State University - Fort Collins | Fort Collins, CO |
53 | Drexel University | Philadelphia, PA |
54 | Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus, OH |
55 | Minnesota State University - Mankato | Mankato, MN |
56 | Kean University | Union, NJ |
57 | Washington State University | Pullman, WA |
58 | University of South Carolina - Columbia | Columbia, SC |
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region
View the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
Region |
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Southeast |
New England |
Rocky Mountains |
Plains States |
Middle Atlantic |
Far Western US |
Southwest |
Great Lakes |
More Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Parks & Rec
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.