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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

13 Colleges
$15,770 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

In 2020-2021, 448 degrees and certificates were awarded to parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who went to a Florida college or university. This makes it the #19 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in Florida ranking. This report analyzed 13 schools in Florida 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 Florida

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 2023 rankings named University of Central Florida the best value school in Florida for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. UCF is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Orlando.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCF are $8,872 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCF is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Florida list.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Central Florida

The excellent master’s degree programs at Florida International University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Florida. FIU is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Miami.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at FIU are $11,106 per year.

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

#3

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Florida. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Florida list. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UF are $12,737 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UF is ranked #1 for overall quality for parks and rec in Florida.

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

Out of the 13 schools in Florida that were part of this year’s ranking, University of South Florida - Main Campus landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Tampa, USF Tampa is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at USF Tampa are $10,428 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of South Florida - Main Campus

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means The University of West Florida is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of Pensacola, UWF is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UWF are $9,062 a year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of West Florida

#6

Florida Atlantic University

Boca Raton, FL

Florida Atlantic University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Florida list. Located in the small city of Boca Raton, FAU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

FAU graduate students pay an average of $6,693 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#7

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

With a ranking of #7, Florida State 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. Florida State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Tallahassee.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Florida State are $11,553 a year.

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

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Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Florida list. Located in the midsize city of Tallahassee, Florida A&M University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Florida A&M University graduate students pay an average of $9,876 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Report

#9

Southeastern University

Lakeland, FL

Southeastern University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Lakeland, SEU is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SEU are $12,350 per year.

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#10

Nova Southeastern University

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Nova Southeastern University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Florida list. NUS Florida is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Fort Lauderdale.

NUS Florida graduate students pay an average of $22,790 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

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

State Degrees Awarded
Mississippi 160
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

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 13 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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