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

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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 2023 rankings named Texas State University the most popular school in the Southwest Region for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the small city of San Marcos, Texas State is a public school with a very large student population.

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

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The in-demand bachelor’s degree programs at Texas A&M University - College Station helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southwest Region . Located in the midsize city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas A&M University - College Station

The in-demand bachelor’s degree programs at The University of Texas at San Antonio helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southwest Region . 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.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio Report

#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 college with a very large student population.

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

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The in-demand bachelor’s degree programs at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southwest Region . UT Rio Grande Valley is a very large public school located in the city of Edinburg.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Report

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 medium-sized city of Tempe.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Arizona State University - Tempe Report

University of North Texas ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Denton, UNT is a public school with a fairly 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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With a ranking of #8, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Austin.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at Austin Report

#9

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

With a ranking of #9, Grand Canyon University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit college with a very large student population.

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

Read More…

#10

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX

With a ranking of #10, Tarleton State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Tarleton is a fairly large public school located in the town of Stephenville.

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

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

The University of Texas at Arlington landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. UT Arlington is a very large public school located in the large city of Arlington.

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

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington

The University of Texas at El Paso landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. UTEP is a very large public school located in the city of El Paso.

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

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at El Paso

#13

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, AZ

Northern Arizona University ranked #13 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. 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.

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

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 colleges 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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