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Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools

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

66 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 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 66 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular doctor's degree programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor's Degree Colleges.

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Chicago the most popular school in the United States for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Concordia University, Chicago is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.

Women make up 41% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of North Carolina at Greensboro. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public school with a large student population.

Of the 23 students majoring in parks and rec at UNC Greensboro, 35% are male and 65% are female.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Western States is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Portland, Western States Chiropractic College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Women make up 40% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means United States Sports Academy is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Daphne, The Academy is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

About 40% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 60% are male.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at United States Sports Academy

#5

University of Houston

Houston, TX

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Houston is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. UH is a fairly large public school located in the city of Houston.

Women make up 54% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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#6

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the city of East Lansing.

Women make up 50% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

With a ranking of #7, Oklahoma State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the distant town of Stillwater, OSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 64% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Oklahoma State University - Main Campus

The University of Texas at Austin landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a very large student population.

About 30% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 70% are male.

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Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular doctor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. IU Bloomington is a fairly large public school located in the city of Bloomington.

About 30% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 70% are male.

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#10

Troy University

Troy, AL

With a ranking of #10, Troy University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. TROY is a fairly large public school located in the remote town of Troy.

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

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville, TN
11 Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX
11 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
11 The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Most Popular 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 29 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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