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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

34 Colleges
$17,431 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 34 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region 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.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees 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 the Middle Atlantic Region

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

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

Our analysis found Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Middle Atlantic Region . Located in the town of Slippery Rock, SRU is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SRU are $18,216 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania

#2

Mount St Mary's University

Emmitsburg, MD

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Mount St Mary’s University is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. The Mount is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Emmitsburg.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at The Mount are $13,676 a year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Mount St Mary’s University

#3

Canisius College

Buffalo, NY

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Canisius College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Located in the large city of Buffalo, Canisius is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Canisius are $15,870 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Canisius College

#4

Neumann University

Aston, PA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Neumann University is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Neumann is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Aston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Neumann are $14,690 per year.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Bloomsburg is a medium-sized public school located in the small city of Bloomsburg.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Bloomsburg are $16,731 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Report

#6

Lock Haven University

Lock Haven, PA

With a ranking of #6, Lock Haven University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. LHU is a small public school located in the distant town of Lock Haven.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at LHU are $17,379 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Lock Haven University Report

#7

Montclair State University

Montclair, NJ

Montclair State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Located in the suburb of Montclair, Montclair State is a public college with a very large student population.

Montclair State graduate students pay an average of $13,519 in tuition and fees each year.

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

University of Delaware 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 #8 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Newark, UD is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UD are $18,128 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UD is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list.

Read More…

West Chester University of Pennsylvania came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. WCUPA is a large public school located in the suburb of West Chester.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WCUPA are $16,758 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania Report

#10

Frostburg State University

Frostburg, MD

Frostburg 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. Frostburg State is a small public school located in the suburb of Frostburg.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Frostburg State are $13,092 a year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Frostburg State 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 Middle Atlantic region.

State Degrees Awarded
New York 327
Pennsylvania 610
Maryland 32
New Jersey 79
District of Columbia 213
Delaware 23

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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