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

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

72 Colleges

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Graduate Certificate 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. This report analyzed 72 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular graduate certificate 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 colleges and universities below are the most popular for parks and rec majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

#1

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

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

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Western Kentucky University Report

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

Out of the 72 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the # 2 spot on the list. Iowa is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Iowa City.

Women make up 19% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

The in-demand graduate certificate programs at Missouri State University - Springfield helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public college 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.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Missouri State University - Springfield Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means American Public University System is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the town of Charles Town.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at American Public University System Report

#5

Providence College

Providence, RI

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Providence College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. Providence is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Providence.

About 45% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 55% are male.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Providence College Report

#5

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

The in-demand graduate certificate programs at Liberty University 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 United States. 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.

Read More…

North Carolina State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large city of Raleigh, NC State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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 North Carolina State University Report

#8

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

University of Kentucky did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the 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 full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Kentucky

#8

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

East Carolina University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. ECU is a very 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

Miami University - Oxford ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Women make up 71% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Miami University - Oxford Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness students that almost earned our Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
11 California University of Pennsylvania California, PA
11 Marquette University Milwaukee, WI
11 Concordia University, Chicago River Forest, IL
11 University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Most Popular 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 32 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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