2022 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Colorado (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado 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 Colorado, there were 67 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,700 and $23,447 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 2 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 in Colorado For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in Colorado (With Aid)

#1

Metropolitan State University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

#2 in overall quality

$14,257 Average Net Price

$37,976 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Metropolitan State University of Denver. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. Denver, Colorado is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 17 students in 2019-2020.

MSU Denver also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $14,257 for Colorado Parks & Rec students with aid per year to attend MSU Denver.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver

#2

Western Colorado University

Gunnison, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$17,282 Average Net Price

$29,450 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Colorado University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Gunnison, Colorado, this small public school awarded 16 diplomas to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Western, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Western Colorado University is $17,282 for Colorado Parks & Rec students with aid.

Full Western Colorado University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

• Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the Rocky Mountains Region (With Aid)
• Best Value 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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