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Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California

27 Colleges
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #14 most popular major in California with 11,237 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. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 27 schools in California to see which ones were the most popular master'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 master's degree.

Our analysis found Concordia University, Irvine to be the most popular school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the large city of Irvine, Concordia University, Irvine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

About 29% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 71% are male.

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Out of the 27 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Baptist University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

About 53% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 47% are male.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California State University - Long Beach Report

#4

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

The in-demand master’s degree programs at University of San Francisco helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in California. USFCA is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.

About 40% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 60% are male.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of San Francisco Report

#5

National University

La Jolla, CA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means National University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

Of the 68 students majoring in parks and rec at National University, 63% are male and 37% are female.

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

Point Loma Nazarene University ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Women make up 67% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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California State University - Fullerton ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 37 students majoring in parks and rec at Cal State Fullerton, 57% are male and 43% are female.

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California State University - Northridge did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Northridge.

Of the 36 students majoring in parks and rec at CSUN, 53% are male and 47% are female.

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San Jose 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 master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 57% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 43% are male.

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California State University - Fresno landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Fresno.

Women make up 42% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 673
Oregon 629
Hawaii 171
Nevada 273
Alaska 35

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 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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