Recreational Therapy program
Discover how recreation can change lives — including yours
At UWL, the Recreational Therapy program prepares students to help people adapt, heal, and thrive through purposeful recreation and leisure activities.
Whether it's through exercise, aquatics, expressive arts, or music, you’ll design and deliver programs that support the health and well-being of individuals with disabilities, chronic illnesses, or other life challenges. This is a career where compassion meets creativity — and where your work can have a lasting impact.
With a nationally recognized, accredited program and expert faculty, UWL offers one of the few recreational therapy majors in the country, giving you a powerful head start in a meaningful profession.
Recreational Therapy
Recreational therapists assist people who are marginalized and/or live with disabilities and illnesses to help them improve their health and well-being. This is achieved through a wide range of recreation and leisure activities, as well as techniques to improve their physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and leisure needs.
Undergrad major View a sample plan for Recreational Therapy Catalogfor Recreational Therapy Learn more for Recreational Therapy
Undergrad + graduate dual degree
As the field of recreational therapy moves toward master’s level entry, this dual degree program offers students a more efficient path toward completion of their master’s degree. Students earn a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in recreational therapy.
Undergrad major Graduate degree View a sample plan for Undergrad + graduate dual degree Catalogfor Undergrad + graduate dual degreeA program within the Department of Recreation Management & Recreational Therapy
What is a recreational therapist?
Recreational therapists assist people who are marginalized and/or live with disabilities and illnesses to help them improve their health and well-being. This is achieved through a wide range of recreation and leisure activities, as well as techniques to improve their physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and leisure needs.
UWL has given me so much: fond memories, lifelong friends, superstitions about clocktowers, frustrations, joys and everything in between. I am so proud to be able to call UWL my home away from home. I can say with certainty that there will always be a piece of me in La Crosse — no matter where I end up.
Kyra Neuser
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Recreational therapy jobs
UWL recreational therapy graduates are eligible to become certified therapeutic recreation specialists (CTRSs) through the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC). Agencies that have employed UWL graduates include: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; Wisconsin Resource Center, Wis.; Emplify Health, Wis.; Mendota Mental Health Center, Wis.; and North Suburban Special Recreation Associations in Illinois and more.
UWL also offers a Master of Science in Recreational Therapy program, including a dual degree option that allows students the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in recreational therapy in only five years.
Entry-level positions
- Certified therapeutic recreation specialist
- Recreational therapist
- Activity director
- Life enrichment director
- Activity therapist
- Leisure education specialist
- Recreation leader
- Rehabilitation specialist
- Inclusion specialist
Work settings
- Hospitals
- Adult daycare centers
- Adventure programs and camps
- Senior citizen centers
- Chemical dependency treatment programs
- Correctional centers
- Long-term care facilities
- Mental health facilities
- Veterans administration and medical centers
What distinguishes UWL's Recreational Therapy program?
The job placement rate for UWL recreational therapy graduates has consistently been more than 90 percent.
The program is accredited by The Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT).
The American Therapeutic Recreation Association has awarded UWL with recognition for “Excellence in Therapeutic Recreation Education.”
The award-winning faculty members in the program have diverse professional interests and are committed to scholarship and the professional development of students. All hold the credential as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS). UWL has a large number of recreational therapy instructors, which is significant in that other universities may have only one staff member with a recreational therapy background.
The program received the Program of Merit for Health Professions designation from the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.
Some graduates decide to continue their education, earning a master's degree in Recreational Therapy. UWL's program established a 4 + 1 graduate program in fall 2018, which provides an alternative and faster option to earn a master’s degree in Recreational Therapy.
Students have the opportunity to join the active Therapeutic Recreation Majors Club. Objectives of the club are to enhance learning and increase professional development in all areas of recreational therapy.
UWL's Recreational Therapy Department students have the opportunity to learn with Canine Companions Facility Dog Rossi. Rossi is a smart dog and the first canine to become part of UWL classrooms — specifically clinical classrooms where future recreational therapists and others are learning how to incorporate service dogs into therapy.
Sample courses
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