2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in West Virginia
8Colleges in West Virginia
1,256Parks & 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 8 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in West Virginia ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,256 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies annually.
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
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 West Virginia.
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 West Virginia
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.
Every student pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to take a look at American Public University System. Located in the town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #234 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means American Military University is a great university overall.
There were approximately 698 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at American Military University in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from American Public University System make $19,931 more than the average parks & rec graduate.
West Virginia University is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Morgantown, WVU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #492 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means WVU is a great university overall.
There were about 222 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at WVU in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make around $30,145 in their early career salary.
Every student who is interested in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies needs to check out Shepherd University. Shepherd University is a small public university located in the rural area of Shepherdstown. A Best Colleges rank of #1663 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Shepherd University is a great university overall.
There were about 36 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Shepherd University in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients usually make about $34,287 in the first five years of their career.
West Virginia Wesleyan College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the remote town of Buckhannon, West Virginia Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 12th out of 25 colleges for overall quality in the state of West Virginia.
There were approximately 27 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at West Virginia Wesleyan in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn around $24,526 in their early career salary.
Located in the small city of Huntington, Marshall University is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1084 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Marshall University is a great university overall.
There were approximately 69 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Marshall University in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the parks & rec program state that they receive average early career earnings of $20,682.
Located in the distant town of Fairmont, Fairmont State is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 10th out of 25 schools for overall quality in the state of West Virginia.
There were approximately 26 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Fairmont State in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn around $30,833 in the first couple years of their career.
West Liberty University is a small public university located in the rural area of West Liberty. This university ranks 16th out of 25 schools for overall quality in the state of West Virginia.
There were approximately 24 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at West Liberty University in the most recent year we have data available.
WVSU is a small public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Institute. This university ranks 22nd out of 25 schools for overall quality in the state of West Virginia.
There were roughly 40 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at WVSU in the most recent data year.
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.
