2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in North Carolina
a bachelor's degree in
parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #13 out of 38 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 30 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 2,903 bachelor's degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The parks & rec bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a bachelor'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 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.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How much debt parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools
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 North Carolina list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in North Carolina
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies.
10 Top North Carolina Schools for a Bachelor's in Parks & Rec
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
365
Annual Graduates
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a good decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Chapel Hill, UNC Chapel Hill is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
102
Annual Graduates
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies has to take a look at Wake Forest University. Located in the large city of Winston-Salem, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Wake Forest University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
155
Annual Graduates
Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to look into North Carolina State University. Located in the large city of Raleigh, NC State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from North Carolina State University
It's hard to beat Elon University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Elon is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Elon.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Elon University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
336
Annual Graduates
Appalachian State is a fairly large public university located in the town of Boone.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Appalachian State University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
103
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of Greenville, ECU is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from East Carolina University
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
193
Annual Graduates
Located in the city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Located in the fringe town of Buies Creek, Campbell is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Campbell University
Located in the town of Pembroke, UNC Pembroke is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
55
Annual Graduates
Barton College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the town of Wilson.More information about a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies from Barton College