2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 3,224 people earned their degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies, making the major the 152nd most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,957 and had an average of $22,487 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 167 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,733 and $24,414 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 128 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent parks, recreation and leisure studies programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$5,477 Average Net Price

$38,751 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 99 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $5,477 for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#2

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$13,658 Average Net Price

$28,960 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. SIUC is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 21 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $13,658 for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Full SIUC Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#3

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$14,103 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Aurora University landed the #3 spot on the list. Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Aurora, Illinois. It awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Aurora also took the #4 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Aurora University is $14,103 for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Aurora

#4

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$15,806 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Olivet Nazarene University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Bourbonnais, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $15,806 for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Olivet Nazarene.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Olivet Nazarene University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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