2025 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Ohio
3Colleges in Ohio
128Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$34,246Avg Early-Career Salary
When it comes to popularity, parks, recreation & leisure studies sits in the middle of the road, ranking #166 out of 395 majors in the country. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Ohio ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 128 degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies annually.
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. We derive our Best Overall Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
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
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Ohio ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to 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 Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Ohio
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the parks & rec degree levels they offer.
Ohio University - Athens Campus is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. OHIO Athens is a fairly large public university located in the town of Athens. A Best Colleges rank of #184 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means OHIO Athens is a great university overall.
There were approximately 42 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at OHIO Athens in the most recent year we have data available.
Bowling Green State University - Main Campus is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. BGSU is a fairly large public university located in the town of Bowling Green. This university ranks 18th out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were approximately 59 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at BGSU in the most recent data year. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually earn an average of $32,709 in the first five years of their career.
Any student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies needs to look into University of Toledo. Located in the large city of Toledo, University of Toledo is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 15th out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were about 19 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at University of Toledo in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation & leisure studies students who get their degree from University of Toledo earn $8,451 more than the standard parks & rec graduate.
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. We derive our Best Overall Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
