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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

16 Colleges
$22,711 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$31,801 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies School for You

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is the #223 most popular major in the country with 206 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools ranking. This report analyzed 16 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best value programs for parks and rec students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for parks and rec majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

$14,919 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Northwest Missouri State University to be the best value school for parks, recreation and leisure studies students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the town of Maryville, Northwest is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northwest are $14,919 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Northwest Missouri State University

$22,810 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 16 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the distant town of Athens, OHIO Athens is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at OHIO Athens are $22,810 per year.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIUC are $37,632 per year.

UIUC also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

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$18,726 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 16 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

CSULB undergraduate students pay an average of $18,726 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Long Beach

#5

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

Out of the 16 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the # 5 spot on the list. UNI is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Cedar Falls.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UNI are $19,753 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UNI also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Northern Iowa Report

$19,272 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Sacramento landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation and leisure studies programs. Sac State is a very large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Sac State are $19,272 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Sacramento Report

$19,744 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Chico came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Chico, Chico State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Chico State are $19,744 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Chico

#8

SUNY Cortland

Cortland, NY
$18,725 Average Tuition & Fees

SUNY Cortland came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools ranking. SUNY Cortland is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Cortland.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SUNY Cortland are $18,725 a year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at SUNY Cortland

#9

University of Utah

Salt Lake City, UT
$28,345 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #9, University of Utah did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation and leisure studies students. U of U is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Salt Lake City.

U of U undergraduate students pay an average of $28,345 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Utah Report

$24,764 Average Tuition & Fees

Oklahoma State University - Main Campus landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation and leisure studies programs. Located in the town of Stillwater, OSU is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at OSU are $24,764 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Report

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies by Region

View the Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is one of 4 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 9,742
Recreation Administration 441
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 35
Outdoor Education 28

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 16 schools only.

  • 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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