2023 Most Focused Master’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. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2021-2022, 72,741 people earned their degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies, making the major the 15th most popular in the United States. 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 master’s degree level specifically, there were 231 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,686 and $62,807 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

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

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia master’s degree parks & rec students.

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

1

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Georgetown University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia list. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 146 degrees to qualified masters’s parks & rec students in 2021-2022.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 98%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

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

2

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 overall quality in District of Columbia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend American University. The school came in at #2 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia. Washington, District of Columbia is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s parks & rec degrees to 51 students in 2021-2022.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The American 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 Master’s Highly Focused on Parks & Rec Major in District of Columbia. George Washington University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 34 masters’s parks & rec degrees to qualified students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 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.