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Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

11 Colleges
$69,500 Avg Salary

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

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies was ranked #18 in the country. In fact 10,452 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which doctor's degree programs were the most popular 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 colleges and universities below are the most popular for parks and rec majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Chicago the most popular school in the Great Lakes Region for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Of the 32 students majoring in parks and rec at Concordia University, Chicago, 59% are male and 41% are female.

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

#2

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Out of the 11 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Michigan State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Of the 12 students majoring in parks and rec at Michigan State, 50% are male and 50% are female.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana University - Bloomington. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public college with a very large student population.

Women make up 30% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at Ohio State University - Main Campus helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Great Lakes Region . Ohio State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Columbus.

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 Ohio State University - Main Campus

The in-demand doctor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Great Lakes Region . UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. U-M is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor.

Read More…

#7

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Purdue is a fairly large public school located in the city of West Lafayette.

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

University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.

About 50% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 50% are male.

Read More…

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UWM is a fairly large public school located in the city of Milwaukee.

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

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

#7

University of Toledo

Toledo, OH

University of Toledo ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Toledo is a large public school located in the city of Toledo.

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

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 797
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

Majors Similar to Parks & Rec

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 11 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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