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2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

51 Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
5,483 Bachelor's Degrees
$30,603 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #13 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 51 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,483 bachelor's degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region Your choice of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality parks & rec program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

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 bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Parks & Rec Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list to help you make the college decision.

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 Bachelor’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Middle Atlantic Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students seeking a a bachelor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Parks & Rec

1
Temple crest
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
182 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Temple University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Temple University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
322 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to take a look at Rutgers University - New Brunswick. Rutgers New Brunswick is a very large public university located in the city of New Brunswick.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Rutgers University - New Brunswick

3
Syracuse crest
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
Graduate Certificate Highest Degree Type
235 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Syracuse University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Syracuse is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Syracuse University

4
SUNY Cortland crest
SUNY Cortland
Cortland, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
259 Annual Graduates

SUNY Cortland is a good option for students interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. SUNY Cortland is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Cortland.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from SUNY Cortland

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
189 Annual Graduates

UMCP is a very large public university located in the large suburb of College Park.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of Maryland - College Park

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
150 Annual Graduates

UD is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Newark.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of Delaware

7
Towson crest
Towson University
Towson, MD
247 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Towson, Towson is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Towson University

8
Canisius crest
Canisius College
Buffalo, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
48 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Buffalo, Canisius is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Canisius College

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
170 Annual Graduates

SUNY Brockport is a moderately-sized public college located in the town of Brockport.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from The College at Brockport

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
94 Annual Graduates

East Stroudsburg University is a moderately-sized public university located in the town of East Stroudsburg.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.

Rank College Location
11 William Paterson University of New Jersey Wayne, NJ
12 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
13 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA
14 Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA
15 Manhattanville College Purchase, NY
16 Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ
17 Salisbury University Salisbury, MD

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Pennsylvania 37 2,046
New York 37 1,711
New Jersey 34 854
Maryland 33 760
Delaware 30 313
District of Columbia 28 106

View All Rankings >

Parks & Rec Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 5,103
Recreation Administration 228
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 127
Outdoor Education 13
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 12

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Administration & Social Service 4,608

Notes and References

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