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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

16 Colleges
$20,084 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Graduate Certificate 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. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 16 schools in the Southeast Region to see which graduate certificate 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.

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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

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

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

Our 2023 rankings named American Public University System the best value school in the Southeast Region for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. American Military University is a very large private for-profit school located in the town of Charles Town.

American Military University graduate students pay an average of $7,050 in tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, American Military University is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list.

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#2

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Liberty University is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Liberty University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Lynchburg.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 per year.

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

Out of the 16 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Citadel Military College of South Carolina landed the # 3 spot on the list. The Citadel is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Charleston.

The Citadel graduate students pay an average of $18,540 in tuition and fees each year.

The Citadel also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Citadel Military College of South Carolina

#4

Belhaven University

Jackson, MS

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Belhaven University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southeast Region . Located in the city of Jackson, Belhaven is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Belhaven graduate students pay an average of $10,980 in tuition and fees each year.

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

#5

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Western Kentucky University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southeast Region . WKU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Bowling Green.

WKU graduate students pay an average of $18,340 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Western Kentucky University Report

#6

Shenandoah University

Winchester, VA

Shenandoah University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Shenandoah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Winchester.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Shenandoah are $23,430 per year.

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With a ranking of #7, University of Southern Mississippi did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Southern Miss is a 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

#8

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

With a ranking of #8, Clemson University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public college with a very large student population.

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

In addition to its great value ranking, Clemson is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list.

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

With a ranking of #9, North Carolina State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NC State are $29,690 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, NC State also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at North Carolina State University

#10

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

East Carolina University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. ECU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Greenville.

ECU graduate students pay an average of $20,743 in tuition and fees each year.

ECU also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at East Carolina University

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

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies colleges for a specific state in the Southeast region.

State Degrees Awarded
Mississippi 160
Florida 448
North Carolina 289
Virginia 433
Tennessee 287
Georgia 308
South Carolina 220
Louisiana 152
West Virginia 236
Kentucky 279
Arkansas 292
Alabama 216

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 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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