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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

22 Colleges
$12,729 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

With 1,097 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies is the #16 most popular major in California.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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 Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 22 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value master's degree 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 Master’s Degree Schools in California

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

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

Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Irvine the best value school in California for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Irvine, Concordia University, Irvine is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Concordia University, Irvine graduate students pay an average of $8,564 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Concordia University, Irvine also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSULB are $8,280 per year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at San Jose State University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in California. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at San Jose State are $9,286 a year.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - East Bay. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Hayward.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal State East Bay are $8,429 a year.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate students pay an average of $11,629 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

California State University - Sacramento came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Sac State is a very large public school located in the city of Sacramento.

Sac State graduate students pay an average of $8,826 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at PLNU are $11,880 a year.

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California State University - San Marcos ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSUSM is a large public school located in the suburb of San Marcos.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSUSM are $9,161 a year.

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

With a ranking of #9, California State University - Northridge did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. CSUN is a fairly large public school located in the city of Northridge.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUN are $8,477 per year.

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#10

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. SFSU is a very large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SFSU are $8,738 a year.

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

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

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

State Degrees Awarded
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 22 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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