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

51 Colleges
$69,500 Avg Salary

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

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #18 most popular major in the country with 10,452 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 51 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best doctor's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Our analysis found Clemson University to be the best school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the United States. Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public school with a very large student population.

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

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means North Carolina State University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

Out of the 51 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at The University of Texas at Austin helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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Out of the 51 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, United States Sports Academy landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Daphne, The Academy is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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Texas A&M University - College Station ranked #6 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas A&M University - College Station Report

Indiana University - Bloomington did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. IU Bloomington is a very large public school located in the city of Bloomington.

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

With a ranking of #8, University of South Carolina - Columbia did quite well on this year’s best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. UofSC is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of South Carolina - Columbia Report

#9

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

University of Northern Iowa ranked #9 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list. UNI is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Cedar Falls.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Northern Iowa Report

With a ranking of #10, Iowa State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public college with a very large student population.

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Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Best 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 9,742
Recreation Administration 441
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 206
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 35
Outdoor Education 28

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Administration & Social Service 53,252
Legal Professions 45,189
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 13,045
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 1,613

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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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