Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studiesmaster's programs are on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of popularity. In fact, the major degree program ranks #211 out of the 343 majors we look at each year. As such, your educational options may be more limited than if you were in a more popular field.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for parks, recreation & leisure studies students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 45 master's degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on parks, recreation & leisure studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of parks, recreation & leisure studies students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for parks, recreation & leisure studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized parks, recreation & leisure studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for parks, recreation & leisure studies students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools
The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Master's Degree Schools in Illinois.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Illinois
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies.
Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Parks & Rec
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a wonderful decision for students interested in a master's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Master's graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $47,726 for their early career.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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.
