2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the 15th most popular major in the country with 72,122 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Plains States region, there were 5,808 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,644 and $24,923 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 17 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $72,701 and $106,703 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs, but they also 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, 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

The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k”.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for plains states region doctor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Plains States Region

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$22,648 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Northern Iowa. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Northern Iowa is located in Cedar Falls, Iowa and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

UNI also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Northern Iowa are $22,648.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at UNI

#2

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$25,948 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #2 spot on the list. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to 6 students in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also took the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Iowa State are $25,948.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Iowa State

#3

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$27,613 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Iowa. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Iowa is a large public school situated in Iowa City, Iowa. It awarded 5 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region doctor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k list, Iowa has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Iowa are $27,613, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Iowa Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#4

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Omaha, Nebraska

#4 in overall quality

$16,374 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Nebraska at Omaha. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Omaha, Nebraska, this fairly large public school handed out 1 degrees to qualified doctorate’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UNOMAHA, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Nebraska at Omaha are $16,374, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full University of Nebraska at Omaha Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

• Best Value Doctor’s 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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