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Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

37 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 #17 most popular major in Illinois with 2,396 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. 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 37 schools in Illinois to see which ones were the most popular bachelor's degree programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies program at each school on the list.

Check out the parks and rec bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in Illinois.

Our 2023 rankings named University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign the most popular school in Illinois for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 44% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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The in-demand bachelor’s degree programs at Illinois State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Illinois. Illinois State is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

About 49% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 51% are male.

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

The in-demand bachelor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Chicago helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Illinois. UIC is a very large public school located in the large city of Chicago.

Women make up 52% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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Out of the 37 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the # 4 spot on the list. SIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Carbondale.

About 42% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 58% are male.

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#5

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Out of the 37 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Concordia University, Chicago landed the # 5 spot on the list. Concordia University, Chicago is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of River Forest.

About 52% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 48% are male.

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

#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Eastern Illinois University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the distant town of Charleston, EIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Women make up 33% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Eastern Illinois University Report

Western Illinois University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Of the 71 students majoring in parks and rec at WIU, 45% are male and 55% are female.

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Northern Illinois University ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. NIU is a large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.

Women make up 44% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

#9

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Aurora.

About 41% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 59% are male.

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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Edwardsville.

Of the 66 students majoring in parks and rec at SIUE, 41% are male and 59% are female.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

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

Explore all the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 1,818
Michigan 2,279
Ohio 2,647
Wisconsin 1,001

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 26 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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