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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

5 Colleges
$10,870 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

With 136 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies is the #14 most popular major in Iowa.

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.

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 Iowa to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 5 schools in Iowa 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.

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 Iowa

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

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

Our analysis found Iowa State University to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Iowa. Located in the small city of Ames, Iowa State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Iowa State are $11,404 a year.

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#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Iowa. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. Iowa is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Iowa City.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Iowa are $12,065 a year.

Iowa also took the #4 spot in our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa rankings.

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

#3

Grand View University

Des Moines, IA

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Grand View University is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Des Moines, Grand View University is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Grand View University are $9,440 a year.

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#4

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, IA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Northern Iowa. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. UNI is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Cedar Falls.

UNI graduate students pay an average of $10,569 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UNI also made our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list, coming in at #5.

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#5

William Penn University

Oskaloosa, IA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend William Penn University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Iowa list. William Penn University is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Oskaloosa.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at William Penn University are $10,500 a year.

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

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

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

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 50
Missouri 247
Minnesota 151
North Dakota 36
Nebraska 36
South Dakota 61

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 5 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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