by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 29 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,170 master's degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Your choice of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students working on their master's degree.
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, & Fitness Studies Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list to help you make the college decision.
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies.
It's hard to beat Texas A&M University - College Station if you wish to pursue a master's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of College Station.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Texas A&M University - College Station
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies has to take a look at Baylor University. Located in the city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Baylor University
It is difficult to beat Southern Methodist University if you want to pursue a master's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. SMU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Dallas.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Southern Methodist University
Tarleton State University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the remote town of Stephenville, Tarleton is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Tarleton State University
SNU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Bethany.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Southern Nazarene University
Located in the distant town of Stillwater, OSU is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Oklahoma State University - Main Campus
Located in the large city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Texas Tech University
Texas State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of San Marcos.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Texas State University
UNT is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Denton.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of North Texas
UH is a very large public university located in the large city of Houston.More information about a master’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of Houston
Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies colleges for a specific state in the Southwest Region .
| State | Colleges | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 32 | 30 |
| Texas | 32 | 801 |
| Oklahoma | 32 | 264 |
| New Mexico | 31 | 25 |
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Health & Physical Education | 1,112 |
| Recreation Administration | 25 |
| Outdoor Education | 18 |
| Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies | 15 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Public Administration & Social Service | 4,951 |