BS in Parks, Recreation and Sport
Degree Program Description
The field of parks, recreation and sport is a multi-billion dollar industry, which encompasses important environmental and social issues such as conservation, community building, human development, health and well-being, and the quality of life. The Parks, Recreation and Sport program provides students with opportunities to develop knowledge and skills for designing, managing, and evaluating various leisure services across a variety of user groups. The undergraduate degree program is comprehensive, yet tailored to meet the needs of students based on current job requirements and professional trends including leadership, communication. problem solving, accounting, and economics. All of our areas of emphasis are accredited with eligibility to sit for the Certified Park and Recreation Professional certification. A wide range of careers in Parks, Recreation and Sport include: outdoor education, park management, park ranger, resource manager, back country guide, visitor relations, recreation supervisors, facility managers, health and fitness, golf course management, park planner, cultural arts, aquatics, account executives, customer relations, game-day operations, compliance, fund raising, sales, and marketing.
Major Program Requirements
Satisfactory completion of 120 credits is required: a minimum of 108 credits in course work and a 12-credit internship with a cumulative GPA of 2.0. Professional preparation includes course work in a professional core, professional option requirements and electives, and an internship. Students must also complete university general education, university graduation requirements, degree and major emphasis area requirements, including selected foundational courses which may fulfill some University general education requirements.
Students transferring into Parks, Recreation and Sport from other MU degree programs or from other institutions must have a 2.0 GPA (past term and cumulative) for all work attempted.
| Foundational Courses | ||
| COMMUN 1200 | Public Speaking | 3 |
| or AG_ED_LD 2220 | Verbal Communication in Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources | |
| Communication Elective | ||
| COMMUN 2100 | Media Communication in Society | 3 |
| or SOCIOL 2310 | Culture and Mass Media | |
| or THEATR 1400 | Acting for Non-Majors | |
| or ENGLSH 2030 | Professional Writing | |
| or SCI_AG_J 3240 | Communicating on the Web | |
| MATH 1100 | College Algebra | 3 |
| STAT 1200 | Introductory Statistical Reasoning | 3 |
| or STAT 2500 | Introduction to Probability and Statistics I | |
| or ESC_PS 4170 | Introduction to Applied Statistics | |
| ACCTCY 2010 | Introduction to Accounting | 3 |
| or ACCTCY 2026 | Accounting I | |
| or ACCTCY 2036 | Accounting I | |
| or ACCTCY 2136H | Honors Accounting I | |
| ECONOM 1014 | Principles of Microeconomics | 3 |
| or ABM 1041 | Applied Microeconomics | |
| or ECONOM 1051H | General Economics - Honors | |
| MRKTNG 3000 | Principles of Marketing | 3 |
| or ABM 2183 | The Agricultural Marketing System | |
| or ABM 3224 | New Products Marketing | |
| PSYCH 1000 | General Psychology | 3 |
| SOCIOL 1000 | Introduction to Sociology | 3 |
| or RU_SOC 1000 | Rural Sociology | |
| H_D_FS 2400W | Principles of Human Development - Writing Intensive | 3-4 |
| or H_D_FS 2400 | Principles of Human Development | |
| or H_D_FS 2400HW | Principles of Human Development - Honors/Writing Intensive | |
| or H_D_FS 2400H | Principles of Human Development - Honors | |
| Professional core (required for all options, minimum grade of C- in core) | 25 | |
| PRST 1010 | Introduction to Leisure Studies | 3 |
| PRST 1011 | Academic Planning and Career Orientation in Parks, Recreation and Tourism | 1 |
| PRST 2281 | The Business of Sport | 3 |
| PRST 2750 | Methods in Research and Evaluation | 3 |
| PRST 3210W | Personnel Management and Leadership in Leisure Services - Writing Intensive | 3 |
| PRST 3215 | Program Development in Leisure Services | 3 |
| PRST 4208 | Administration of Leisure Services | 3 |
| Diversity Course | 3 | |
| Parks, Health and Wellness Course | 3 | |
| Professional emphasis requirements (minimum grade of C- in emphasis courses) | 12 | |
| Recreation Administration emphasis | ||
| PRST 2111 | Introduction to Planning and Evaluating Leisure Environments | 3 |
| PRST 2355 | Private and Commercial Recreation Principles and Practice | 3 |
| PRST 3220 | Introduction to Recreation for Individuals with Disabilities | 3 |
| PRST 4333 | Park Management | 3 |
| Natural Resources Recreation Management emphasis | ||
| NAT_R 1070 | Ecology and Renewable Resource Management | 3 |
| PRST 3230 | Introduction to Parks and Outdoor Recreation Services | 3 |
| PRST 3231 | Principles of Interpretive Outdoor Recreation | 3 |
| PRST 4340 | Advanced Recreation Land Management | 3 |
| Sport Management emphasis | ||
| PRST 1080 | Introduction to Sport Management | 3 |
| PRST 2080 | Global Sport Environments | 3 |
| PRST 3282 | Governance and Policy in Sport and Leisure | 3 |
| PRST 4385 | Legal Aspects of Sport | 3 |
| Tourism Development emphasis | ||
| HSP_MGMT 1100 | Introduction to Hospitality Management | 3 |
| HSP_MGMT 4110 | Hospitality Sales and Marketing Management | 3 |
| PRST 4357 | Tourism Planning and Development | 3 |
| Foundations of Tourism | 3 | |
| Internship | ||
| PRST 3189 | Pre-Internship Seminar in Parks, Recreation, Sport and Tourism | 1 |
| PRST 4940 | Parks, Recreation, Sport and Tourism Internship | 12 |
| Professional option electives | 15 | |
| Advisor-approved courses specific to the student's selected academic option | ||
| General Electives | 5-6 | |
Semester Plan
Below is a sample plan of study, semester by semester. A student's actual plan may vary based on course choices where options are available.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| ENGLSH 1000 or MATH 1100 | 3 | MATH 1100 or ENGLSH 1000 | 3 |
| COMMUN 1200 or AG_ED_LD 2220 | 3 | ECONOM 1014 or ABM 1041 | 3 |
| PRST 1010 | 3 | SOCIOL 1000 or RU_SOC 1000 | 3 |
| PRST 1011 | 1 | Humanities & Fine Arts | 3 |
| Humanities & Fine Arts | 3 | Missouri State Law Requirement | 3 |
| Biological, Physical, or Mathematical Science | 3 | ||
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| PSYCH 1000 | 3 | ACCTCY 2010, 2026, 2036, or 2136H | 3 |
| STAT 1200, 1300, 1400, 2500, or ESC_PS 4170 | 3 | MRKTNG 3000, ABM 2183, or ABM 3224 | 3 |
| PRST 2281 | 3 | PRST 2750 | 3 |
| Communication ElectiveCOMMUN 2100. SOCIOL 2310, THEATR 1400, ENGLSH 2030, SCI_AG_J 3240 | 3 | Professional Elective | 3 |
| Biological or Physical Science with Lab | 4 | Emphasis-Area Course | 3 |
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| H_D_FS 2400 or 2400W | 3-4 | PRST 3215 | 3 |
| Professional Elective | 3 | Emphasis-Area Course | 3 |
| Emphasis-Area Course | 3 | Professional Elective | 3 |
| Diversity Course | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| Parks, Health and Wellness | 3 | General Elective | 3 |
| 15-16 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| PRST 4208 | 3 | PRST 4940 | 12 |
| PRST 3210W | 3 | ||
| PRST 3189 | 1 | ||
| Emphasis-Area Course | 3 | ||
| Professional Elective | 3 | ||
| Professional Elective | 3 | ||
| 16 | 12 | ||
| Total Credits: 120-121 | |||
Degree Audit
The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree. Degree Audits are not available for all programs; however, please consult with the appropriate college or school for audit information.
MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, by clicking on the Request Degree Audit link. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.
Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to http://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.
Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via http://www.transfer.org. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.
For additional details on degree audits, go to http://registrar.missouri.edu/degree-audits/index.php.
Major and Career Exploration
The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.
- If you are considering a change of major or are exploring multiple majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in Academic Exploration and Advising Services (AEAS) by calling (573)884-9700.
- If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values and talents, visit the MU Career Center in the lower level of the Student Success Center. No appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.
- If you would like information about MU majors and degree programs, visit:
- the Degrees, Majors (Degree Programs), Emphasis Areas, Minors and Certificates page in the catalog,
- the MU Majors website.
For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.