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

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

9 Colleges
$24,836 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

In 2020-2021, 327 degrees and certificates were awarded to parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who went to a New York college or university. This makes it the #25 most popular major in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 New York to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in New York to see which master's degree 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.

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 Master’s Degree Schools in New York

Check out the parks and rec master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best New York Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness

#1

Brooklyn College

Brooklyn, NY

Our analysis found Brooklyn College to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in New York. Located in the large city of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Brooklyn College graduate students pay an average of $11,522 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Brooklyn College Report

#2

SUNY Cortland

Cortland, NY

The excellent master’s degree programs at SUNY Cortland helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in New York. Located in the town of Cortland, SUNY Cortland is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SUNY Cortland are $13,055 a year.

Read More…

#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 New York list. Canisius is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Buffalo.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Canisius are $15,870 a year.

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#4

Queens College

Queens, NY

Out of the 9 schools in New York that were part of this year’s ranking, Queens College landed the # 4 spot on the list. QC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Queens.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at QC are $11,612 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Queens College Report

#5

Manhattanville College

Purchase, NY

Out of the 9 schools in New York that were part of this year’s ranking, Manhattanville College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Manhattanville is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Purchase.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Manhattanville are $17,670 per year.

Manhattanville excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in New York list.

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#6

Niagara University

Niagara University, NY

With a ranking of #6, Niagara 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. Niagara is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Niagara University.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Niagara are $13,950 a year.

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

Columbia University in the City of New York ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in New York list. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Columbia are $52,924 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Columbia is ranked #4 for overall quality for parks and rec in New York.

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St John’s University - New York came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in New York ranking. Located in the large city of Queens, STJ is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at STJ are $31,516 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at St John’s University - New York

#9

Adelphi University

Garden City, NY

Adelphi 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 #9 on the list. Adelphi is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Garden City.

Adelphi graduate students pay an average of $44,520 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
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 9 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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