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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

12 Colleges
$23,193 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,264 Avg Salary

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

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #14 most popular major in Illinois with 797 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

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 Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 12 schools in Illinois 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. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Illinois

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

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

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL
$34,310 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Chicago the best value school in Illinois for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Concordia University, Chicago are $34,310 a year.

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$13,968 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Illinois State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Illinois. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Illinois State are $13,968 per year.

Illinois State not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois list.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Illinois State University Report

$17,634 Average Tuition & Fees

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 & Fitness Schools in Illinois list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIUC are $17,634 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UIUC is ranked #3 for overall quality for parks and rec in Illinois.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

SIUE undergraduate students pay an average of $11,496 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 12 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at NIU are $14,738 a year.

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

#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL
$12,297 Average Tuition & Fees

Eastern Illinois University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. EIU is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Charleston.

EIU undergraduate students pay an average of $12,297 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Eastern Illinois University Report

#7

North Central College

Naperville, IL
$42,206 Average Tuition & Fees

North Central College 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 #7 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at North Central are $42,206 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at North Central College Report

#8

Aurora University

Aurora, IL
$26,760 Average Tuition & Fees

Aurora University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Aurora undergraduate students pay an average of $26,760 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

Western Illinois University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WIU are $13,297 per year.

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

$15,603 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Illinois at Chicago 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 #10 on the list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIC are $15,603 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago

Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 192
Ohio 478
Wisconsin 117
Michigan 222

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 12 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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