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

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

92 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.

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 the Southwest Region ranking. This report analyzed 92 schools in the Southwest Region 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 the Southwest Region .

#1

Texas State University

San Marcos, TX

Our analysis found Texas State University to be the most popular school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the Southwest Region . Located in the city of San Marcos, Texas State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 57% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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Out of the 92 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Texas A&M University - College Station landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public college with a very large student population.

About 54% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 46% are male.

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Out of the 92 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Texas at San Antonio landed the # 3 spot on the list. UTSA is a very large public school located in the large city of San Antonio.

Of the 465 students majoring in parks and rec at UTSA, 40% are male and 60% are female.

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#4

University of Houston

Houston, TX

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Houston is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Houston, UH is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 57% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. UT Rio Grande Valley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Edinburg.

Of the 371 students majoring in parks and rec at UT Rio Grande Valley, 43% are male and 57% are female.

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Arizona State University - Tempe landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. ASU - Tempe is a fairly large public school located in the city of Tempe.

Women make up 57% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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University of North Texas came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Denton, UNT is a public school with a very large student population.

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

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The University of Texas at Austin came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

About 50% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 50% are male.

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#9

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Grand Canyon 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 #9 on the list. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 28% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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#10

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX

Tarleton State 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 #10 on the list. Tarleton is a fairly large public school located in the remote town of Stephenville.

Of the 240 students majoring in parks and rec at Tarleton, 46% are male and 54% are female.

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The University of Texas at Arlington ranked #11 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. UT Arlington is a fairly large public school located in the city of Arlington.

Of the 239 students majoring in parks and rec at UT Arlington, 44% are male and 56% are female.

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The University of Texas at El Paso 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 #12 on the list. UTEP is a fairly large public school located in the large city of El Paso.

Of the 202 students majoring in parks and rec at UTEP, 52% are male and 48% are female.

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#13

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, AZ

Northern Arizona University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the city of Flagstaff, NAU is a public college with a very large student population.

Of the 181 students majoring in parks and rec at NAU, 40% are male and 60% are female.

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Honorable Mentions

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

Rank College Location
14 University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Norman, OK
15 Stephen F Austin State University Nacogdoches, TX
16 Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX
17 Texas Woman’s University Denton, TX
18 Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi Corpus Christi, 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.

  • 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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