2023 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in District of Columbia

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the 15th most popular major in the country with 72,741 degrees awarded in 2021-2022. In , parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in , earned an average of $31,466 and had an average of $24,117 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 319 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,207 and $43,900 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 84 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $47,578 and $24,158 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. That schools that top this list have a program in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia”.

Top 3 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in District of Columbia

1

Howard University
Washington, District of Columbia

#6 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Howard University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia list. Howard is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 70 bachelors’s degrees in 2021-2022.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Howard Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

2

Gallaudet University
Washington, District of Columbia

#5 overall quality in District of Columbia

Out of the 3 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia that were part of this year’s ranking, Gallaudet University landed the #2 spot on the list. This small school is located in Washington, District of Columbia, and it awarded 14 bachelors’s parks & rec degrees in 2021-2022.

With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Gallaudet University

3

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend George Washington University. The school came in at #3 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 36 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks & rec students in 2021-2022.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at GWU

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.