2022 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is the 152nd most popular major in the country with 3,224 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” 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 in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” 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 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.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois parks & rec students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$8,464 Average Net Price

$49,122 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 130 students in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $8,464 for illinois parks & rec students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UIUC Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#2

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$14,306 Average Net Price

$38,710 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 in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 29 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SIUC is $14,306 for illinois parks & rec students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#3

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$13,845 Average Net Price

$43,032 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Aurora University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k. Aurora, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois parks & rec students whose families make $30-$48k list, Aurora has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $13,845 for illinois parks & rec students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Aurora University.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

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

#4

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$15,390 Average Net Price

$46,385 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Olivet Nazarene University landed the #4 spot on the list. Olivet Nazarene is a small school located in Bourbonnais, Illinois that handed out 4 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene is $15,390 for Illinois Parks & Rec students whose families make $30-$48k.

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%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Olivet Nazarene

• Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $30-$48k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $30-$48k)

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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