Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

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

2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California

22 Colleges
$41,687 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master'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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 22 schools in California to see which master'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 Master’s Degree Schools in California

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

Our analysis found Concordia University, Irvine to be the best school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the large city of Irvine, Concordia University, Irvine is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Irvine

Request Information

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Report

Request Information

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Point Loma Nazarene University Report

Request Information
#4

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of San Francisco. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. USFCA is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Read More…

Request Information

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of the Pacific. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Stockton.

Read More…

Request Information

California Baptist 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 large city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Request Information

San Jose State University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Request Information

California State University - Long Beach ranked #8 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

Read More…

Request Information
#9

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

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

Request Information

California State University - East Bay came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Cal State East Bay is a large public school located in the suburb of Hayward.

Read More…

Request Information

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges 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 22 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.

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.