2023 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans
2
Ranked Colleges
7
Degrees Awarded
$32,400
Avg Cost*
Veterans have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Most Veteran Friendly for Parks & Rec for a Doctorate” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
In 2020-2021, 3,106 people earned their degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies, making the major the 166th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,801 and had an average of $23,333 in loans still to pay off.
For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly for Parks & Rec for a Doctorate” ranking, we looked at 2 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 a strong support system for veterans and active service members.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Veteran Friendly for Parks & Rec for a Doctorate” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.
Most Veteran Friendly for Parks & Rec for a Doctorate
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly for Parks & Rec for a Doctorate”.
Top 2 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Utah. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly for Parks & Rec for a Doctorate list. University of Utah is a large school located in Salt Lake City, Utah that handed out 2 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
U of U did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list.According to our most recent data, University of Utah supports 33,081 students, and 1 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 0 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $0. During this same period, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. University of Utah offers credit for military training for eligible students.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at U of U]](/colleges/university-of-utah/student-life/veterans/)
Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly for Parks & Rec for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools” list.Our most recent data shows that 10 of the 52,679 students enrolled at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were GI Bill® students, of which 0 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $0. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Veteran Student Life Report
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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).
- Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
- 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
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
- **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
- 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.