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

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

72 Colleges

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Graduate Certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 72 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular graduate certificate 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 graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the United States.

#1

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

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

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

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

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Iowa. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. Iowa is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Iowa City.

Of the 26 students majoring in parks and rec at Iowa, 81% are male and 19% are female.

Read More…

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Missouri State University - Springfield is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. 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.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Missouri State University - Springfield Report

The in-demand graduate certificate programs at American Public University System helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular 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 town of Charles Town.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at American Public University System Report

#5

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Liberty University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lynchburg.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Liberty University Report

#5

Providence College

Providence, RI

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Providence College is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Providence is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Providence.

Women make up 45% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Providence College Report

North Carolina State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 60% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read More…

#8

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

East Carolina University ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. ECU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Greenville.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at East Carolina University Report

#8

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

With a ranking of #8, University of Kentucky did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. 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.

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

With a ranking of #10, Miami University - Oxford did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the fringe town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Of the 7 students majoring in parks and rec at Miami University - Oxford, 29% are male and 71% are female.

Read More…

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness students that almost earned our Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Concordia University, Chicago River Forest, IL
11 California University of Pennsylvania California, PA
11 University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS
11 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
11 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Most Popular 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 32 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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