2025 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Plains States Region
65Colleges in the Plains States Region
5,582Parks & 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 65 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,582 degrees in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies annually.
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 Plains States 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 Plains States 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.
13 Top Plains States Region Schools in Parks & Rec
University of Iowa is a great option for students pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Located in the city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #80 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.
There were about 624 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients usually make about $32,533 in their early careers.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public university located in the city of Minneapolis. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.
There were roughly 108 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients generally earn an average of $36,040 in the first five years of their career.
Every student who is interested in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies has to take a look at Saint Louis University. Located in the city of Saint Louis, SLU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #243 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SLU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 99 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at SLU in the most recent year we have data available.
It is difficult to beat Iowa State University if you wish to pursue a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies. Iowa State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Ames. A Best Colleges rank of #88 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 222 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients typically earn around $36,492 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the small city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #192 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means KU is a great university overall.
There were about 201 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at KU in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, parks & rec degree recipients generally make about $33,891 at the beginning of their careers.
St. Ambrose University is a small private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Davenport. This university ranks 11th out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were approximately 75 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at St. Ambrose University in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, parks & rec degree recipients typically make about $26,608 in their early careers.
Minnesota State Mankato is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Mankato. A Best Colleges rank of #412 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Minnesota State Mankato is a great university overall.
There were roughly 169 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Minnesota State Mankato in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies major at Minnesota State University - Mankato make $2,869 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the small city of Saint Charles, Lindenwood University is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 13th out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were about 109 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Lindenwood University in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the parks & rec program make about $35,314 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the medium-sized city of Columbia, Mizzou is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #131 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Mizzou is a great university overall.
There were approximately 87 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Mizzou in the most recent data year. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from University of Missouri - Columbia get an earnings boost of approximately $4,231 above the typical income of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies graduates.
UNI is a moderately-sized public university located in the city of Cedar Falls. A Best Colleges rank of #270 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UNI is a great university overall.
There were approximately 117 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at UNI in the most recent data year. After graduating, parks & rec degree recipients generally earn an average of $35,868 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the city of Des Moines, Grand View University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 33rd out of 37 schools for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were roughly 72 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Grand View University in the most recent data year. Those parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who get their degree from Grand View University make $2,001 more than the average parks & rec grad.
Located in the distant town of Winona, Winona State is a public university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #330 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Winona State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 100 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Winona State in the most recent data year. Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies degree recipients from Winona State University earn a boost of approximately $4,621 over the average income of parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies majors.
Truman State is a small public university located in the town of Kirksville. This university ranks 18th out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were roughly 78 parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students who graduated with this degree at Truman State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the parks & rec program earn an average of $26,865 in the first couple years of working.
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 Plains States 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.
