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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

51 Colleges
$23,242 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$69,500 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor's Degree School for You

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #18 most popular major in the country with 10,452 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 & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 51 schools in the United States to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for parks and rec students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Chicago the best value school in the United States for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Concordia University, Chicago is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Concordia University, Chicago also is in the top 20% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Brigham Young University - Provo helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. Located in the midsize city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at BYU are $7,700 per year.

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#3

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Clemson University is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Clemson are $23,246 per year.

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Out of the 51 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, United States Sports Academy landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Daphne, The Academy is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at The Academy are $19,440 a year.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Nebraska at Omaha is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the large city of Omaha, UNOMAHA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UNOMAHA are $16,374 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Nebraska at Omaha Report

The University of Texas at Austin did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UT Austin graduate students pay an average of $22,944 in tuition and fees each year.

UT Austin also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at Austin Report

Texas Woman’s University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. TWU is a large public school located in the city of Denton.

TWU graduate students pay an average of $15,048 in tuition and fees each year.

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#8

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

University of Northern Iowa did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. UNI is a moderately-sized public school located in the small city of Cedar Falls.

UNI graduate students pay an average of $21,201 in tuition and fees each year.

UNI excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list.

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Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Texas A&M College Station are $24,106 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Texas A&M College Station is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools list.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas A&M University - College Station

University of Southern Mississippi landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Southern Miss is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Hattiesburg.

Southern Miss graduate students pay an average of $11,204 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Southern Mississippi Report

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

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

Parks & Rec Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 9,742
Recreation Administration 441
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 206
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 35
Outdoor Education 28

Related Major Annual Graduates
Public Administration & Social Service 53,252
Legal Professions 45,189
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 13,045
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 1,613

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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