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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois

12 Colleges
$33,264 Avg Salary
$24,988 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School for You

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #14 most popular major in Illinois with 797 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 12 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best programs for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges.

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign the best school in Illinois for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

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#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

The excellent programs at Northwestern University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Illinois. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

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

#3

North Central College

Naperville, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend North Central College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at North Central College Report

#4

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Concordia University, Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

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Out of the 12 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois State University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Illinois State University Report

University of Illinois at Chicago came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#7

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

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

Southern Illinois University Carbondale came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the small city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a large student population.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

Northern Illinois University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a large student population.

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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 192
Ohio 478
Wisconsin 117
Michigan 222

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 12 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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