2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
46Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
8,018Parks & 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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 46 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 8,018 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School
Your choice of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Pick Your Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 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 Middle Atlantic 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 Middle Atlantic 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.
10 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools in Parks & Rec
It's difficult to beat Rutgers University - New Brunswick if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Rutgers New Brunswick is a very large public university located in the small city of New Brunswick. A Best Colleges rank of #74 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Rutgers New Brunswick is a great university overall.
There were about 396 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Rutgers New Brunswick in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn an average of $30,252 for their early career.
Temple University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #97 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Temple is a great university overall.
There were roughly 291 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients generally earn an average of $31,658 in their early careers.
It is difficult to beat Syracuse University if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Syracuse is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse. A Best Colleges rank of #62 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Syracuse is a great university overall.
There were roughly 147 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make an average of $34,821 for their early career.
Every student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to check out University of Maryland - College Park. UMCP is a very large public university located in the suburb of College Park. A Best Colleges rank of #37 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UMCP is a great university overall.
There were about 208 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career income of $31,403.
UD is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Newark. A Best Colleges rank of #96 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UD is a great university overall.
There were about 211 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UD in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $26,555 in the first couple years of working.
SUNY Cortland is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Cortland. A Best Colleges rank of #218 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SUNY Cortland is a great school overall.
There were approximately 319 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at SUNY Cortland in the most recent data year. After graduation, parks & rec degree recipients generally make about $32,153 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of Buffalo, Canisius is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 71st out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 139 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Canisius in the most recent year we have data available. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from Canisius College receive an earnings boost of about $5,881 over the average income of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies majors.
Located in the city of Towson, Towson is a public university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #188 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Towson is a great university overall.
There were roughly 294 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Towson in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients usually earn around $32,101 in their early careers.
SUNY Brockport is a moderately-sized public college located in the town of Brockport. This college ranks 64th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 166 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at SUNY Brockport in the most recent data year. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually make around $27,043 at the beginning of their careers.
East Stroudsburg University is a moderately-sized public university located in the fringe town of East Stroudsburg. This university ranks 58th out of 103 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were roughly 120 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at East Stroudsburg University in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, parks & rec degree recipients typically earn an average of $32,882 at the beginning of their careers.
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 Middle Atlantic 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).
Your choice of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.
