2022 Best Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation and leisure studies programs that also have a lower cost than 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

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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.

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Best Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make more than $110k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income Over $110k) in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$15,880 Average Net Price

$38,751 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 99 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $15,880 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make more than $110k.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at UIUC

#2

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$16,945 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 Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 21 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $16,945 for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make more than $110k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

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

#3

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$17,215 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Aurora University landed the #3 spot on the list. Aurora University is a medium-sized school located in Aurora, Illinois that handed out 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Aurora not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $17,215 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make more than $110k per year to attend Aurora University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Aurora

#4

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$20,195 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Olivet Nazarene University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Vallue Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making Over $110k list. Olivet Nazarene is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Olivet Nazarene also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene is $20,195 for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make more than $110k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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%.

Full Olivet Nazarene University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income Over $110k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income Over $110k)

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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