2025 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Plains States Region
9Colleges in the Plains States Region
396Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$34,246Avg 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 9 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 396 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 the Plains States Region 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 the Plains States Region
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.
It is difficult to beat University of Iowa if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Iowa is a very large public university located in the small city of Iowa City. A Best Colleges rank of #80 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.
There were approximately 55 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies degree program at University of Iowa get $2,857 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
University of Northern Iowa is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a 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. A Best Colleges rank of #270 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.
There were about 36 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies degree program at University of Northern Iowa earn $2,987 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
University of Missouri - Columbia is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Mizzou is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Columbia. A Best Colleges rank of #131 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Mizzou is a great university overall.
There were approximately 83 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Mizzou in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation & leisure studies degree program at University of Missouri - Columbia make $4,479 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Northwest Missouri State University is a great decision for students interested in a degree in parks, recreation & leisure studies. Located in the town of Maryville, Northwest is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 20th out of 48 colleges for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were roughly 44 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Northwest in the most recent year we have data available.
Winona State is a medium-sized public university located in the distant town of Winona. A Best Colleges rank of #330 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Winona State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 35 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Winona State in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients generally make an average of $35,062 in their early careers.
Located in the distant town of Pittsburg, Pitt State is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 12th out of 44 colleges for overall quality in the state of Kansas.
There were roughly 29 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Pitt State in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients generally make an average of $35,587 at the beginning of their careers.
UNK is a moderately-sized public university located in the town of Kearney. This university ranks 11th out of 19 schools for overall quality in the state of Nebraska.
There were about 53 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UNK in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make an average of $28,241 for their early career.
Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, Missouri State is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were approximately 20 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at Missouri State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually earn about $28,345 in their early careers.
UMN Duluth is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Duluth. This university ranks 17th out of 52 colleges for overall quality in the state of Minnesota.
There were roughly 12 parks, recreation & leisure studies students who graduated with this degree at UMN Duluth 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.
