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

8 Ranked Colleges
386 Degrees Awarded
$19,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” 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 South Dakota, there were 386 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. 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.

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.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid

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

Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in South Dakota (With Aid)

#1

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Dakota State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid. South Dakota State University is a fairly large school located in Brookings, South Dakota that handed out 60 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

South Dakota State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” list. The estimated yearly cost for South Dakota State University is $19,252 for south dakota parks & rec students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full South Dakota State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#2

Northern State University

Aberdeen, South Dakota

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern State University landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Aberdeen, South Dakota, this small public school awarded 37 diplomas to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

NSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northern State University is $15,851 for South Dakota Parks & Rec students with aid.

Full NSU Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#3

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, South Dakota

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of South Dakota landed the #3 spot on the list. University of South Dakota is a medium-sized school located in Vermillion, South Dakota that handed out 122 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

USD also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for University of South Dakota is $18,555 for south dakota parks & rec students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 4.8% 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 South Dakota Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#4

Dakota State University

Madison, South Dakota

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Dakota State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Dakota State University is a public institution located in Madison, South Dakota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 11 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our south dakota parks & rec students with aid list, Dakota State has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Dakota State University is $17,691 for south dakota parks & rec students with aid.

Full Dakota State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#5

Augustana University

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Augustana University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid. Located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 48 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our south dakota parks & rec students with aid list, Augustana Sioux Falls has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Augustana University is $24,072 for south dakota parks & rec students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Augustana Sioux Falls

#6

Black Hills State University

Spearfish, South Dakota

With a ranking of #6, Black Hills State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid list. This small school is located in Spearfish, South Dakota, and it awarded 44 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

BHSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” list. The yearly cost to attend Black Hills State University is $16,641 for south dakota parks & rec students with aid.

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

#7

Dakota Wesleyan University

Mitchell, South Dakota

Dakota Wesleyan University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid list. This small school is located in Mitchell, South Dakota, and it awarded 15 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Dakota Wesleyan University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” list. The estimated yearly cost for Dakota Wesleyan University is $21,574 for South Dakota Parks & Rec students with aid.

Full Dakota Wesleyan University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#8

University of Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

University of Sioux Falls ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in South Dakota For Those Getting Aid list. University of Sioux Falls is a small school located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota that handed out 28 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Sioux Falls, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in South Dakota” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Sioux Falls is $19,893 for south dakota parks & rec students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Sioux Falls

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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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