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

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

116 Colleges
$30,102 Avg Salary
$25,352 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 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.

The Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 116 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones were the most popular 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 .

#1

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

Our analysis found Liberty University to be the most popular school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a degree in the Southeast Region . Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Public University System. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region list. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the fringe town of Charles Town.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at American Public University System

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Arkansas State University - Main Campus is a great place for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. A-State is a large public school located in the city of Jonesboro.

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#4

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

The excellent programs at Western Kentucky University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southeast Region . WKU is a large public school located in the small city of Bowling Green.

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

#5

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

Out of the 116 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Florida landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

#6

Georgia Southern University

Statesboro, GA

Georgia Southern University ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region list. GaSou is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Statesboro.

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

#7

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public college with a very large student population.

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#8

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

Florida State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #8 on the list. Florida State is a very large public school located in the city of Tallahassee.

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

University of North Carolina at Greensboro landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of North Carolina at Greensboro Report

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

#11

University of Georgia

Athens, GA

University of Georgia landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. UGA is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Athens.

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

#12

University of Louisville

Louisville, KY

University of Louisville came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. UofL is a very large public school located in the city of Louisville.

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University of South Carolina - Columbia ranked #12 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region list. UofSC is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.

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#12

Troy University

Troy, AL

Troy University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. TROY is a large public school located in the town of Troy.

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#15

University of Memphis

Memphis, TN

University of Memphis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #15 on the list. UofM is a fairly large public school located in the city of Memphis.

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

University of South Florida - Main Campus ranked #15 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the large city of Tampa, USF Tampa is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of South Florida - Main Campus Report

Virginia Commonwealth University ranked #17 on this year’s Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region list. VCU is a very large public school located in the city of Richmond.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Most Popular Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Southeast Region award.

Rank College Location
18 University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS
19 University of North Georgia Dahlonega, GA
19 University of Kentucky Lexington, KY
19 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
22 Belmont University Nashville, TN
23 East Carolina University Greenville, NC
23 United States Sports Academy Daphne, AL

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 25 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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