2025 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region
4Colleges in the Rocky Mountains Region
234Parks & 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.
College Factual looked at 4 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 234 degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies annually.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Pick Your Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Degree Level
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 Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region.
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 the Rocky Mountains Region
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.
It is difficult to beat University of Utah if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #213 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U of U is a great university overall.
There were roughly 42 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at U of U in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies degree program at University of Utah earn $2,763 above the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
It is difficult to beat Brigham Young University - Provo if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #257 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means BYU is a great university overall.
There were about 105 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at BYU in the most recent year we have data available. Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies degree recipients from Brigham Young University - Provo receive an earnings boost of about $13,350 above the average income of parks, recreation & leisure studies graduates.
It's difficult to beat Western Colorado University if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the remote town of Gunnison, Western is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 29th out of 31 schools for overall quality in the state of Colorado.
There were approximately 20 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Western in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career earnings of $25,903.
Any student who is interested in parks, recreation & leisure studies has to look into Southern Utah University. Located in the remote town of Cedar City, Southern Utah University is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 9th out of 11 colleges for overall quality in the state of Utah.
There were roughly 21 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Southern Utah University in the most recent year we have data available.
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).
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.
