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

10 Ranked Colleges
1,205 Degrees Awarded
$17,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

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 Colorado, there were 1,205 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,553 and $20,903 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 10 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 in Colorado For Those Getting Aid

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

Top 10 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Colorado (With Aid)

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado State University - Fort Collins. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid list. Fort Collins, Colorado is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 355 students in 2019-2020.

Colorado State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list. It costs about $18,668 for Colorado Parks & Rec students with aid per year to attend Colorado State University - Fort Collins.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Metropolitan State University of Denver. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. Metropolitan State University of Denver is a fairly large school located in Denver, Colorado that handed out 122 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at MSU Denver, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for MSU Denver is $14,257 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

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

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Colorado landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Northern Colorado is located in Greeley, Colorado and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 243 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

University of Northern Colorado did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Northern Colorado is $15,714 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Northern Colorado

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado State University - Pueblo landed the #4 spot on the list. Colorado State University - Pueblo is located in Pueblo, Colorado and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 40 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our colorado parks & rec students with aid list, Colorado State University - Pueblo has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Colorado State University - Pueblo is $14,653 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Colorado State University - Pueblo

#5

Adams State University

Alamosa, Colorado

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Adams State University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. Located in Alamosa, Colorado, this small public school awarded 61 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our colorado parks & rec students with aid list, Adams State has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Adams State University is $14,064 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

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

#6

Western Colorado University

Gunnison, Colorado

Western Colorado University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking. Western Colorado University is a public institution located in Gunnison, Colorado. The school has a small population, and it awarded 54 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Western did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for Western is $17,282 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

Full Western Colorado University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#7

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado

Colorado Mesa University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. Colorado Mesa University is a medium-sized school located in Grand Junction, Colorado that handed out 141 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Colorado Mesa, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. It costs about $15,569 for colorado parks & rec students with aid per year to attend Colorado Mesa.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Colorado Mesa

#8

Fort Lewis College

Durango, Colorado

Fort Lewis College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #8. FLC is located in Durango, Colorado and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 72 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

FLC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list. The yearly cost to attend FLC is $16,274 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Fort Lewis College

Johnson & Wales University - Denver did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #9. This small school is located in Denver, Colorado, and it awarded 16 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

JWU Denver did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for JWU Denver is $26,221 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Johnson & Wales University - Denver

#10

Intellitec College - Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Intellitec College - Colorado Springs did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #10. Intellitec College - Colorado Springs is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our colorado parks & rec students with aid list, Intellitec College - Colorado Springs has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Intellitec College - Colorado Springs is $18,332 for colorado parks & rec students with aid.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Intellitec College - Colorado Springs

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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.

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