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Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools

2023 Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools

25 Colleges

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.

The Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 25 schools in the United States to see which online graduate certificate programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Graduate Certificate Colleges.

#1

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

Our 2023 rankings named Western Kentucky University the most popular online school in the United States for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. WKU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Bowling Green.

Of the 42 students majoring in parks and rec at WKU, 62% are male and 38% are female.

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The in-demand online graduate certificate programs at Missouri State University - Springfield helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 43% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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The in-demand online graduate certificate programs at American Public University System helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the fringe town of Charles Town.

Of the 12 students majoring in parks and rec at American Military University, 83% are male and 17% are female.

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#4

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

The in-demand online graduate certificate programs at Liberty University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.

Of the 11 students majoring in parks and rec at Liberty University, 55% are male and 45% are female.

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#5

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

The in-demand online graduate certificate programs at East Carolina University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. ECU is a very large public school located in the city of Greenville.

Women make up 25% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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California University of Pennsylvania came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of California, Cal U is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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University of Western States ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Portland, Western States Chiropractic College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Of the 3 students majoring in parks and rec at Western States Chiropractic College, 67% are male and 33% are female.

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Colorado State University - Fort Collins did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular online places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Fort Collins, Colorado State is a public school with a very large student population.

Of the 3 students majoring in parks and rec at Colorado State, 67% are male and 33% are female.

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#7

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

University of Kentucky ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. UK is a fairly large public school located in the city of Lexington.

Of the 8 students majoring in parks and rec at UK, 75% are male and 25% are female.

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#10

Drexel University

Philadelphia, PA

Drexel University ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. Drexel is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

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View the Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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.

  • 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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