2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Southwest Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 72,122 people earned their degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the 15th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,823 and had an average of $24,576 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 9,967 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,090 and $22,308 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 594 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,605 and $16,886 respectively.

This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness 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 picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $0-$30k” 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 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 for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 1 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Southwest Region

#1

South Texas College

McAllen, Texas

#1 in overall quality

$904 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Texas College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for an Associate in the Southwest Region For Those Making $0-$30k. McAllen, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s parks and rec degrees to 67 students in 2019-2020.

South Texas College also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Associate Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for South Texas College is $904 for Southwest Region Associate Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full South Texas College Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $0-$30k)

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.

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