2025 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in Iowa

If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #123 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in Iowa ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 69 bachelor's degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 Iowa list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Iowa

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for parks, recreation & leisure studies students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

Top Iowa Schools for a Bachelor's in Parks & Rec

1

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

43 Annual Graduates

$37,103 Median Starting Salary

$48,140 Median Student Debt

University of Iowa is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Iowa is a very large public university located in the small city of Iowa City.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn an average of $37,103 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Iowa

2

University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA

26 Annual Graduates

$37,233 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat University of Northern Iowa if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career earnings of $37,233.

More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation & leisure studies from University of Northern Iowa

Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	228	174
Minnesota	215	64
Kansas	184	25
Nebraska	180	63
South Dakota	148	0

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Rankings in Majors Related to Parks & Rec

One of 4 majors within the Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies area of study, Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Parks & Rec Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies	69

Most Popular Majors Related to Parks & Rec

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education	1,350

Notes and References

• 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.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.