2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Massachusetts
9Colleges in Massachusetts
1,307Parks & Rec Degrees Awarded
$34,494Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #15 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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Massachusetts ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 1,307 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. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that 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
The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Massachusetts.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
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 Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Massachusetts
The schools below may not offer all types of parks & rec degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Every student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies has to take a look at University of Massachusetts Amherst. UMass Amherst is a very large public university located in the city of Amherst. A Best Colleges rank of #60 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UMass Amherst is a great university overall.
There were about 181 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UMass Amherst in the most recent data year. After graduation, parks & rec degree recipients typically make around $36,419 at the beginning of their careers.
It's difficult to beat Endicott College if you want to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the suburb of Beverly, Endicott is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #398 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Endicott is a great college overall.
There were approximately 93 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Endicott in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients typically earn about $30,338 at the beginning of their careers.
It is difficult to beat University of Massachusetts - Boston if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Boston, UMass Boston is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #455 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UMass Boston is a great university overall.
There were approximately 185 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UMass Boston in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from University of Massachusetts - Boston receive $3,209 more than the standard parks & rec graduate.
Dean College is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Dean College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Franklin. This college ranks 55th out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 73 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Dean College in the most recent year we have data available.
Westfield is a small public university located in the large suburb of Westfield. This university ranks 29th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 45 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Westfield in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $32,456 in their early career salary.
Located in the small city of Newton, Lasell is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 43rd out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were about 61 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Lasell in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Lasell University receive $4,989 more than the standard parks & rec graduate.
Located in the large city of Boston, Simmons is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #68 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Simmons is a great university overall.
There were roughly 23 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Simmons in the most recent data year.
Nichols is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Dudley.
There were about 51 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Nichols in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make around $32,564 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the city of Springfield, Western New England is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 54th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 58 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Western New England in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, parks & rec degree recipients usually earn an average of $26,544 at the beginning of their careers.
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. For our Best Overall Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
