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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$23,735 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$29,911 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies was ranked #18 in the country. In fact 10,452 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in the Rocky Mountains Region to see which 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 Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges.

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

Our analysis found Brigham Young University - Provo to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a degree in the Rocky Mountains Region . BYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Provo.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at BYU are $6,120 per year.

BYU did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list.

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#2

Adams State University

Alamosa, CO

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Adams State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list. Located in the remote town of Alamosa, Adams State is a public school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Adams State are $17,933 per year.

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

#3

University of Wyoming

Laramie, WY

Out of the 11 schools in the Rocky Mountains Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wyoming landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the remote town of Laramie, UW is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UW undergraduate students pay an average of $16,957 in tuition and fees each year.

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

#4

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, CO
$22,322 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado Mesa University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list. Colorado Mesa is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Grand Junction.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Colorado Mesa are $22,322 a year.

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

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of Northern Colorado is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. University of Northern Colorado is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Greeley.

University of Northern Colorado undergraduate students pay an average of $23,785 in tuition and fees each year.

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

Colorado State University - Fort Collins ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list. Colorado State is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Fort Collins.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Colorado State are $31,470 a year.

Colorado State also made our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region list, coming in at #5.

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#7

University of Utah

Salt Lake City, UT

University of Utah came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region ranking. Located in the midsize city of Salt Lake City, U of U is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at U of U are $28,345 per year.

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#8

University of Idaho

Moscow, ID

University of Idaho did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the distant town of Moscow, U of I is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at U of I are $27,576 a year.

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Utah State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. It came in at #9 on the list. USU is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Logan.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at USU are $23,435 a year.

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

With a ranking of #10, Boise State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Boise State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Boise.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Boise State are $24,980 a year.

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

Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools for a specific state in the Rocky Mountains region.

State Degrees Awarded
Utah 49
Colorado 151
Montana 4
Idaho 38
Wyoming 11

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 11 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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