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Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

17 Colleges
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #14 most popular major in Illinois with 797 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 17 schools in Illinois to see which ones were the most popular master'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 Master's Degree Colleges.

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Our analysis found Concordia University, Chicago to be the most popular school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Of the 300 students majoring in parks and rec at Concordia University, Chicago, 53% are male and 47% are female.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Chicago

The in-demand master’s degree programs at Illinois State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Illinois. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

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

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Illinois State University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

Read More…

#4

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Northwestern University is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.

Women make up 23% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

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

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Western Illinois 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 master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Macomb.

Of the 47 students majoring in parks and rec at WIU, 57% are male and 43% are female.

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

Southern Illinois University Carbondale ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

About 39% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 61% are male.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Report

#8

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Eastern Illinois University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. EIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Charleston.

Of the 28 students majoring in parks and rec at EIU, 61% are male and 39% are female.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Eastern Illinois University Report

Northern Illinois 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 master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a large student population.

About 37% of the students majoring in parks and rec at the school are women while 63% are male.

Read More…

#10

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

With a ranking of #10, Aurora University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Women make up 52% of the parks and rec majors at the school.

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

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
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

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 17 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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