a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #123 out of 363 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in Alabama to determine which ones were the best for parks, recreation & leisure studies students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 59 bachelor's degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies to qualified students.
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor'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 - How many other parks, recreation & leisure studies students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
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 much debt parks, recreation & leisure studies students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized parks, recreation & leisure studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for parks, recreation & leisure studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in Alabama list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Alabama
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies.
Top Alabama Schools for a Bachelor's in Parks & Rec
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies has to check out Jacksonville State University. Located in the small suburb of Jacksonville, Jacksonville State University is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $31,303 in their early career salary.
It is difficult to beat University of South Alabama if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. USA is a large public university located in the midsize city of Mobile.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn around $33,557 in their early career salary.
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.
