Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Far Western US Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Far Western US Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

32 Colleges
$27,343 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$31,616 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 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.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Far Western US Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 32 schools in the Far Western US Region 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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Far Western US Region

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

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Irvine the best value school in the Far Western US Region for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Located in the city of Irvine, Concordia University, Irvine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Concordia University, Irvine undergraduate students pay an average of $38,740 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Concordia University, Irvine also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Far Western US Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Irvine

$39,500 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 32 schools in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Point Loma Nazarene University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at PLNU are $39,500 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Point Loma Nazarene University

#3

Seattle University

Seattle, WA
$49,335 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 32 schools in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Seattle University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Seattle U is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Seattle.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Seattle U are $49,335 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Seattle University Report

#4

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA

The excellent programs at Gonzaga University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Far Western US Region . Gonzaga is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Spokane.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Gonzaga are $48,470 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Gonzaga University Report

$37,018 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Baptist University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Located in the city of Riverside, Cal Baptist is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Cal Baptist undergraduate students pay an average of $37,018 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #6, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $28,105 a year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Far Western US Region list.

Read More…

#7

National University

La Jolla, CA
$13,320 Average Tuition & Fees

National University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of La Jolla.

National University undergraduate students pay an average of $13,320 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

$18,726 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Long Beach did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at CSULB are $18,726 a year.

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

San Jose State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $19,732 per year.

San Jose State also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Far Western US Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

$18,875 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - East Bay landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State East Bay are $18,875 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California State University - East Bay Report

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools for a specific state in the Far Western US region.

State Degrees Awarded
California 1,097
Washington 122
Oregon 67
Nevada 13
Hawaii 12
Alaska 5

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

Majors Similar to Parks & Rec

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.

Featured Schools

Find Graduate Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited graduate schools across the U.S.