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

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

2 Colleges
$8,060 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,687 Avg Salary

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

Out of the majors we analyze each year, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies was ranked 9th in South Dakota. In fact, 61 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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.

The Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in South Dakota ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 2 schools in South Dakota 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. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in South Dakota

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

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

Our analysis found South Dakota 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 South Dakota. South Dakota State is a fairly large public school located in the town of Brookings.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at South Dakota State are $9,384 per year.

South Dakota State also made our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in South Dakota list, coming in at #4.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at South Dakota State University Report

Out of the 2 schools in South Dakota that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the remote town of Aberdeen, NSU is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NSU are $6,736 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, NSU is ranked #3 for overall quality for parks and rec in South Dakota.

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

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

State Degrees Awarded
Kansas 50
Missouri 247
Minnesota 151
Iowa 136
North Dakota 36
Nebraska 36

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 2 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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