U of A Recreation, Sport Management Program Ranked 14th Best in Nation

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The recreation and sport management program helps students secure internships for valuable experience, such as Morgan Pasquale's summer job with a Minor League Baseball team. Here, she throws out the first pitch at a Daytona Cubs game in Florida. Photo courtesy of Daytona Cubs

The recreation and sport management degree program at the University of Arkansas was recently ranked No. 14 in the nation by a website dedicated to providing information about sport management degrees and careers.

To rank sport management programs, the website used a point system based on these criteria: accreditation and reputation, location, local sports teams, internships and networking, level of degree offered, cost and student-to-teacher ratio.

It advises people interested in pursuing a career in sports to use the list as a starting point. Each university on the list is a member of the North American Society for Sports Management and offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in sport management or a closely related field. Temple University received the top ranking, followed by the University of Texas, the University of North Carolina and the University of Minnesota.

Steve Dittmore, U of A associate professor and faculty coordinator of the program, considered the ranking quite an accomplishment, considering the sport management concentration was added only four years ago. The program is housed in the College of Education and Health Professions at the U of A.

“With the steady growth our program has witnessed the past few years, this ranking validates our belief that our students receive the necessary practical experience and academic preparation to enter a competitive job market,” Dittmore said. “As the website noted, our students regularly gain valuable internships with the Razorback athletic department and the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and we appreciate those organizations working with our students.”

Program enrollment was 273 undergraduates, 53 master’s students and 15 doctoral students at the beginning of the fall semester.

“We continue to expand student networking opportunities and are excited to push our program in a positive direction,” Dittmore said.

The program’s alumni work for Arkansas Razorback athletics, the Houston Rockets, LSU athletics, Louisville athletics, the U.S. Soccer Federation, Alabama athletics, Baylor athletics, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions, Georgia State athletics, Lafayette athletics, UConn athletics, Nike Tennis, BSN Sports, Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and the University of San Francisco athletics.