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Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

23 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.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 23 schools in the Southeast Region 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 Southeast Region 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.

Of the 42 students majoring in parks and rec at WKU, 62% are male and 38% are female.

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A rank of #2 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 fringe town of Charles Town.

Of the 12 students majoring in parks and rec at American Military University, 83% are male and 17% are female.

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#3

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Liberty University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.

Of the 11 students majoring in parks and rec at Liberty University, 55% are male and 45% are female.

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

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means North Carolina State University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public college with a very large student population.

Women make up 60% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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#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 graduate certificate. ECU is a very large public school located in the small city of Greenville.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at East Carolina University Report

#5

University of Kentucky

Lexington, KY

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Kentucky. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. UK is a fairly large public school located in the city of Lexington.

Of the 8 students majoring in parks and rec at UK, 75% are male and 25% are female.

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

With a ranking of #7, University of Southern Mississippi did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Southern Miss is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Hattiesburg.

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 Southern Mississippi Report

#8

Georgia Southern University

Statesboro, GA

With a ranking of #8, Georgia Southern University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. GaSou is a very large public school located in the distant town of Statesboro.

Of the 4 students majoring in parks and rec at GaSou, 50% are male and 50% are female.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Georgia Southern University

#8

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

With a ranking of #8, University of Florida did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville, UF is a public school with a very large student population.

Of the 4 students majoring in parks and rec at UF, 75% are male and 25% are female.

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

#10

Belhaven University

Jackson, MS

Belhaven University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the midsize city of Jackson, Belhaven is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies colleges for a specific state in the Southeast region.

State Degrees Awarded
Mississippi 160
Florida 448
North Carolina 289
Virginia 433
Tennessee 287
Georgia 308
South Carolina 220
Louisiana 152
West Virginia 236
Kentucky 279
Arkansas 292
Alabama 216

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 23 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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