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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

12 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 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 Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 12 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences 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 Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois

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

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

Our analysis found University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to be the best school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

The excellent master’s degree 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 very 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

The excellent master’s degree programs at North Central College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Illinois. Located in the city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#4

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Concordia University, Chicago is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Chicago Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

University of Illinois at Chicago ranked #6 on this year’s Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a very large student population.

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

#7

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

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Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public college with a fairly 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 Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

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Northern Illinois University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

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

Explore all the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools 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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