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2023 Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools

25 Colleges

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 Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 25 schools in the United States to see which online graduate certificate programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from schools with online programs.

Check out the online parks and rec graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the United States.

#1

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

Our 2023 rankings named Western Kentucky University the most popular online school in the United States for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. WKU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Bowling Green.

Women make up 38% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

Out of the 25 online programs at schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Missouri State University - Springfield landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public school with a very large student population.

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

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Missouri State University - Springfield

Out of the 25 online programs at schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, American Public University System landed the # 3 spot on the list. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the fringe town of Charles Town.

Women make up 17% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read More…

#4

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Liberty University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their online graduate certificate. Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lynchburg.

Women make up 45% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

#5

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means East Carolina University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their online graduate certificate. ECU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Greenville.

About 25% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 75% are male.

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

California University of Pennsylvania came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the small suburb of California, Cal U is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California University of Pennsylvania Report

Colorado State University - Fort Collins ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Fort Collins, Colorado State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 33% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read More…

#7

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

University of Kentucky ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. UK is a very large public school located in the large city of Lexington.

Women make up 25% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read More…

University of Western States landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular online graduate certificate parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the large city of Portland, Western States Chiropractic College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Women make up 33% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read More…

#10

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

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View the Most Popular Online Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate 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.

  • 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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