2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Illinois
3Colleges in Illinois
172Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$35,875Avg Early-Career Salary
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #166 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.
College Factual looked at 3 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 172 degrees in parks, recreation & leisure studies to qualified students.
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. 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.
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 Illinois.
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 Illinois
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.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. UIUC is a very large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 145 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies degree program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $5,209 more than the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a good decision for students interested in a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. SIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Carbondale. This university ranks 23rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 18 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at SIUC in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually earn around $25,457 in their early careers.
It's difficult to beat Aurora University if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Aurora. A Best Colleges rank of #354 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Aurora is a great university overall.
There were approximately 5 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Aurora in the most recent data year.
Olivet Nazarene University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Bourbonnais. This university ranks 33rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 4 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Olivet Nazarene 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).
Your choice of parks, recreation & leisure studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.
