2025 Best Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region
6Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
292Recreation Admin Degrees Awarded
$34,812Avg Early-Career Salary
When it comes to popularity, recreation administration sits in the middle of the road, ranking #163 out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
College Factual looked at 6 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 292 degrees in recreation administration annually.
The recreation admin program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Recreation Administration rankings. For our Best Overall Recreation Administration School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Recreation Administration Rankings by Degree Level
The recreation admin 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 Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region.
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 Recreation Administration 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 recreation admin degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Recreation Admin
Every student who is interested in recreation administration needs to check out Illinois State University. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #210 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Illinois State is a great university overall.
There were about 81 recreation administration students who graduated with this degree at Illinois State in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the recreation administration degree program at Illinois State University earn $4,292 above the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Michigan State University is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in recreation administration. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.
There were about 22 recreation administration students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, recreation admin degree recipients usually make an average of $35,343 in their early careers.
Every student who is interested in recreation administration needs to check out Western Illinois University. WIU is a moderately-sized public university located in the town of Macomb. This university ranks 37th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 40 recreation administration students who graduated with this degree at WIU in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the recreation admin program report average early career earnings of $31,517.
It is difficult to beat University of Wisconsin - La Crosse if you want to pursue a degree in recreation administration. Located in the small city of La Crosse, UW - La Crosse is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were about 29 recreation administration students who graduated with this degree at UW - La Crosse in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, recreation admin degree recipients usually earn about $34,490 in their early careers.
Kent State is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Kent. A Best Colleges rank of #250 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Kent State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 5 recreation administration students who graduated with this degree at Kent State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, recreation admin degree recipients typically make about $31,422 at the beginning of their careers.
Indiana State is a medium-sized public university located in the city of Terre Haute. This university ranks 23rd out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.
There were roughly 40 recreation administration students who graduated with this degree at Indiana State in the most recent data year. After graduation, recreation admin degree recipients generally make about $34,084 in the first five years of their career.
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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Glen Santy.
The recreation admin program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Recreation Administration rankings. For our Best Overall Recreation Administration School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
