2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region
85Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
10,200Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$34,494Avg Early-Career Salary
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #15 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 85 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 10,200 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings by Degree Level
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the parks & rec degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Every student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to look into University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were approximately 310 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor get an earnings boost of around $8,775 above the typical earnings of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies majors.
Indiana University - Bloomington is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were roughly 579 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies program at Indiana University - Bloomington earn $2,031 more than the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Ohio State University - Main Campus is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 243.99999999999997 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies program at Ohio State University - Main Campus make $3,518 above the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
University of Wisconsin - Madison is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 207 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make around $29,866 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #134 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Miami University - Oxford is a great university overall.
There were about 320 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Miami University - Oxford in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Miami University - Oxford receive $6,551 more than the average parks & rec graduate.
UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 329 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $2,418 more than the typical parks & rec graduate.
Located in the city of Waukesha, Carroll U is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 15th out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were approximately 119 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Carroll U in the most recent year we have data available.
Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.
There were about 355 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career income of $31,194.
Located in the distant town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #184 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means OHIO Athens is a great university overall.
There were approximately 288 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at OHIO Athens in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Ohio University - Athens Campus receive $14,828 more than the typical parks & rec grad.
Located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 6th out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 247 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Central Michigan in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients generally earn an average of $33,259 in their early careers.
Located in the small city of Muncie, Ball State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #181 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ball State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 145 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Ball State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make around $35,812 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #125 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Concordia University, Chicago is a great university overall.
There were roughly 375 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Concordia University, Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Concordia University, Chicago receive $10,876 more than the typical parks & rec grad.
Located in the midsize city of Dayton, UDayton is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #227 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UDayton is a great university overall.
There were approximately 48 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UDayton in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies degree program at University of Dayton earn $3,517 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
GVSU is a very large public university located in the town of Allendale. This university ranks 5th out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 275 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at GVSU in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $29,913 in their early career salary.
UW - La Crosse is a fairly large public university located in the small city of La Crosse. This university ranks 8th out of 46 colleges for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were roughly 248 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UW - La Crosse in the most recent data year. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients typically earn around $34,184 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 131 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career earnings of $28,874.
WMU is a large public university located in the city of Kalamazoo. This university ranks 4th out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were about 160 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at WMU in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program report average early career earnings of $28,764.
Rest of the Top Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Honorable Mentions
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 Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
The parks & rec program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
