2025 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in California
9Colleges in California
587Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
If you plan on majoring in parks, recreation & leisure studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #218 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.
College Factual reviewed 9 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of parks, recreation & leisure studies. Combined, these schools handed out 587 degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies rankings. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Rankings by Degree Level
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
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 Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in California
The schools below may not offer all types of parks & rec degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
California State University - Long Beach is a good decision for students interested in a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Long Beach. A Best Colleges rank of #246 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means CSULB is a great university overall.
There were roughly 83 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent year we have data available.
It is difficult to beat California State University - Chico if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Chico, Chico State is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 64th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 103 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Chico State in the most recent data year.
California State University - Sacramento is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 40th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 75 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent year we have data available.
San Francisco State University is a good choice for students pursuing a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Francisco. A Best Colleges rank of #225 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SFSU is a great university overall.
There were about 28 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year.
Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #165 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.
There were approximately 95 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent data year.
SDSU is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #185 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 19 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year.
Located in the suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 62nd out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 41 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Cal State East Bay in the most recent data year.
Fresno State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Fresno. This university ranks 81st out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 44 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Fresno State in the most recent data year.
Humboldt State University is a medium-sized public university located in the remote town of Arcata. This university ranks 125th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 20 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Humboldt State University in the most recent data year.
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).
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies rankings. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
