2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Illinois (With Aid)

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this 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 Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great parks, recreation and leisure studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Illinois (With Aid)

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$15,880 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 Getting Aid. UIUC is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 99 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIUC, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $15,880 for illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid per year to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

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

$16,945 Average Net Price

$28,960 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. SIUC is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 21 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUC, the school also landed 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 with aid per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at SIUC

#3

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$17,215 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Aurora University landed the #3 spot on the list. This medium-sized school is located in Aurora, Illinois, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid list, Aurora has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Aurora University is $17,215 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

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 University

#4

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$20,195 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Olivet Nazarene University landed the #4 spot on the list. This small school is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Olivet Nazarene, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Olivet Nazarene is $20,195 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

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 more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Olivet Nazarene University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the Great Lakes Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (With Aid)

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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