Learn skills for a career in the thriving recreation industry, or use the knowledge you gain earning your degree to go on to graduate studies. There are three emphases to choose from; Outdoor Recreation Administration, Community Recreation Administration, and Outdoor Entrepreneurship.See below for more information.
Outdoor recreation majors will gain the skills and knowledge to operate outdoor recreation-based agencies, in areas such as outdoor education, guiding/outfitting, outdoor retail, equipment manufacture, wilderness/adventure therapy, and more.
Coursework for this degree track covers recreation in travel and tourism and the fundamentals of outdoor education, equipment production/sales and entrepreneurship.
Our community recreation track focuses on the administration and management of recreation programs in a community-based setting, such as municipal recreation centers, parks, non-profit agencies, youth sports leagues, senior centers, camps and more.
Coursework for this degree track covers programming recreation for youth, planning and designing community parks and grant writing for the recreation industry.
Our outdoor recreation entrepreneurship track allows you to build on your outdoor skillset, in classes like Fishing and Cross-Country Skiing while you prepare for your future career as an entrepreneur in the outdoor recreation industry.
Coursework for this degree track covers topics such as business fundamentals, accounting and finance, sales and marketing and outdoor equipment production and retailing.
A GPA of 2.75 or higher in all courses required for this major. The overall GPA must be 2.00 or better. No more than one “D” is acceptable.
A total of 120 credit hours is required for graduation; a total of 63 credit hours for this major. Nine to 10 credit hours of required support courses may be used as general education credit. A total of 40 upper division credit hours is required for graduation with 34–36 upper division hours possible within the required courses for this major.
Graduates go on to a wide range of careers, including:
You’ll also be prepared for graduate programs in recreation management, experiential education and other allied fields.