2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking - to help you make that 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 Great Lakes region, there were 10,194 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,368 and $24,957 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 82 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $74,428 and $121,375 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 9 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.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools
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 a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k
The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region doctor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k.
Top 9 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Ann Arbor, Michigan is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.
U-M also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes 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 Michigan - Ann Arbor are $49,548.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at U-M
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Wisconsin - Madison is a public institution located in Madison, Wisconsin. The school has a large population, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.
UW - Madison did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Wisconsin - Madison are $25,523, but some majors have different tuition rates.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at UW - Madison
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Indiana University - Bloomington. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Bloomington, Indiana, this large public school awarded 12 degrees to qualified doctorate’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
IU Bloomington also took the #4 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at IU Bloomington are $33,338, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at IU Bloomington
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Ohio State University - Main Campus. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Columbus, Ohio, this large public school handed out 11 degrees to qualified doctorate’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our great lakes region doctor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k list, Ohio State has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio State University - Main Campus are $37,141, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Ohio State
Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #5 spot on the list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 12 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083, but some majors have different tuition rates.
Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
Michigan State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #6. Michigan State is located in East Lansing, Michigan and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 18 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Michigan State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Michigan State University are $37,056, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Michigan State University
Concordia University, Chicago landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k ranking. Concordia University, Chicago is located in River Forest, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 13 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Concordia University, Chicago not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Chicago
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k ranking. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
UWM not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee are $25,295, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
University of Toledo came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k ranking. This fairly large school is located in Toledo, Ohio, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
University of Toledo not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Toledo are $27,067, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Toledo
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Best Value Doctor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region
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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).
- 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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