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2024 Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies

501 Colleges
5,415,716 Bachelor's Degrees
$19,684 Avg Cost*

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

Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness StudiesParks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #13 most popular major in the country with N/A bachelor's degrees awarded in 2021-2022.

For this year's Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies ranking, we looked at 501 colleges that offer a bachelor's in parks & rec. To us, 'best value' doesn't just mean the school with the lowest overall costs. For this ranking, we are identifying those parks & rec schools that provide their students with a hiqh quality education at a price that is lower than other colleges and universities of the same caliber.

To determine the average cost, we look at total expenses - such as tuition, fees, room and board, books, and other related expenses - and then subtract the average financial award a student receives. Knowing this amount can help you determine how much you may have to borrow in loans or take out of savings. Depending on your income and other factors, the cost for you to attend a particular school may be more or less.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Value Parks & Rec Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

2024 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in the United States

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

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

1

American Public University System comes in at #1 in this year's ranking. Located in the town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population. In addition to its great value ranking, American Military University is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools list.

Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

Read More…

2

Brigham Young University - Provo earned the #2 spot in our 2024 rankings. BYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Provo. On top of its placing in our value rankings, BYU also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools list. It's in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.

At BYU, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 5.2 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $12,451. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from BYU is about $64,123. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

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3

University of the Cumberlands landed the #3 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools. Cumberlands is a large private not-for-profit school located in the town of Williamsburg.

It takes the average student at Cumberlands about 4.2 years to graduate, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $8,734. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from Cumberlands is about $36,595. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.

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3

Northwestern Oklahoma State University landed the #3 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools. Located in the town of Alva, NWOSU is a public college with a small student population.

It takes the average student at NWOSU about 4.6 years to graduate, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $18,836. This means that the average student pays around $85,704 to get a bachelor’s degree from NWOSU. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

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

5

University of Wisconsin - La Crosse earned the #5 spot in our 2024 rankings. Located in the small city of La Crosse, UW - La Crosse is a public college with a large student population. UW - La Crosse excels when it comes to quality. It's ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools list.

It takes the average student at UW - La Crosse about 4.5 years to graduate, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $19,352. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from UW - La Crosse be around $86,697. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.

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6

The #6 spot in this year's ranking belongs to South Dakota State University. South Dakota State is a large public school located in the town of Brookings.

It takes the average student at South Dakota State about 4.4 years to graduate, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $20,337. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State is about $89,483. When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.

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

7
Central Michigan crest
Central Michigan University
Mount Pleasant, MI

Central Michigan University earned the #7 spot in our 2024 rankings. Located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public school with a large student population. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Central Michigan also is in the top 15% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools ranking.

At Central Michigan, the average time it takes a student to graduate is 4.7 years, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $25,692. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan be around $119,468. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Central Michigan University Report

8

Arkansas State University - Main Campus landed the #8 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools. Located in the small city of Jonesboro, A-State is a public college with a fairly large student population. On top of its placing in our value rankings, A-State also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools list. It's in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.

The average student at A-State graduates in less than 4.4 years, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $17,763. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from A-State is about $77,447. When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Arkansas State University - Main Campus

9

University of Memphis earned the #9 spot in our 2024 rankings. Located in the large city of Memphis, UofM is a public school with a very large student population. UofM excels when it comes to quality. It's ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools list.

The average student at UofM graduates in less than 4.6 years, and it costs about $21,589 per year to attend the school. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from UofM is about $98,662. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.

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

10

Chadron State College earned the #10 spot in our 2024 rankings. Located in the remote town of Chadron, Chadron State College is a public school with a small student population.

The average student at Chadron State College graduates in less than 4.5 years, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $16,258. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from Chadron State College be around $72,348. When students graduate in a lesser amount of time, they can save thousands of dollars.

Read More…

Rest of the Top Schools for Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies

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Lindenwood University crest
Lindenwood University
Saint Charles, MO
34
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48
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
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Additional Award Winners

This list represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 501 different United States parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools we analyzed.

RankCollegeLocation
51Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA
52The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyEdinburg, TX
53University of Central ArkansasConway, AR
54University of Central MissouriWarrensburg, MO
55Northwest Missouri State UniversityMaryville, MO
56University of North Carolina at WilmingtonWilmington, NC
57Kennesaw State UniversityKennesaw, GA
58California State University - NorthridgeNorthridge, CA
59University of Nevada - Las VegasLas Vegas, NV
60East Stroudsburg University of PennsylvaniaEast Stroudsburg, PA
61Austin Peay State UniversityClarksville, TN
62Texas State UniversitySan Marcos, TX
63Johnson & Wales University - OnlineProvidence, RI
64University of WyomingLaramie, WY
65SUNY CortlandCortland, NY
66California State University - FresnoFresno, CA
67University of North Carolina at PembrokePembroke, NC
68Troy UniversityTroy, AL
69Lamar UniversityBeaumont, TX
70Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville, IL
71Missouri Western State UniversitySaint Joseph, MO
72James Madison UniversityHarrisonburg, VA
72Ohio University - Athens CampusAthens, OH
74Louisiana Tech UniversityRuston, LA
74California State University - ChicoChico, CA

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

Parks & Rec Majors to Study

MajorAnnual Graduates

View All Parks & Rec Related Majors >

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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