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Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools

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2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools

66 Colleges
$69,500 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor's Degree School for You

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 Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 66 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular doctor'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.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for parks and rec majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Chicago the most popular school in the United States for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Concordia University, Chicago is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.

Of the 32 students majoring in parks and rec at Concordia University, Chicago, 59% are male and 41% are female.

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

The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at University of North Carolina at Greensboro 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 United States. Located in the large city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public school with a large student population.

About 65% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 35% are male.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of North Carolina at Greensboro

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Western States. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree 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 20 students majoring in parks and rec at Western States Chiropractic College, 60% are male and 40% are female.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Western States Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend United States Sports Academy. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Daphne, The Academy is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Women make up 40% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at United States Sports Academy Report

#5

University of Houston

Houston, TX

The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at University of Houston 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 United States. UH is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Houston.

Of the 13 students majoring in parks and rec at UH, 46% are male and 54% are female.

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

#6

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the city of East Lansing.

Of the 12 students majoring in parks and rec at Michigan State, 50% are male and 50% are female.

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

Oklahoma State University - Main Campus ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the distant town of Stillwater, OSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 11 students majoring in parks and rec at OSU, 36% are male and 64% are female.

Read More…

With a ranking of #8, Indiana University - Bloomington did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. IU Bloomington is a fairly large public school located in the city of Bloomington.

Women make up 30% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Indiana University - Bloomington

The University of Texas at Austin did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 30% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read More…

#10

Troy University

Troy, AL

Troy University ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list. TROY is a fairly large public school located in the town of Troy.

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

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

Additional Noteworthy Schools

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 Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
11 The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL
11 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
11 The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville, TN

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree 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 29 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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