You'll be studying one of the lesser sought-after majors if you pursue a Master's Degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. It is ranked #211 out of 343 major degree programs in terms of popularity. This may make is a little harder to find a school that is a good fit for you.
College Factual reviewed 4 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of parks, recreation & leisure studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 81 master's degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality parks & rec program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on parks, recreation & leisure studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of parks, recreation & leisure studies students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for parks, recreation & leisure studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized parks, recreation & leisure studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for parks, recreation & leisure studies students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools
The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region.
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $3,369 above the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Every student who is interested in a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies has to take a look at Indiana University - Bloomington. IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the small city of Bloomington.
Students who graduate with their master's from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career earnings of $42,647.
It is hard to beat University of Toledo if you want to pursue a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Toledo, University of Toledo is a public university with a large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career earnings of $42,697.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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.
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality parks & rec program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
