2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Alabama

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 for a Bachelor’s in Alabama” ranking.
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 Alabama, there were 788 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,192 and $27,736 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 594 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,191 and $26,651 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama” ranking, we looked at 12 colleges that offer a degree 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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One Size Does Not Fit All
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 for a Bachelor’s in Alabama” 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 for a Bachelor’s in Alabama
The colleges and universities below are the best for alabama bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.
Top 12 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Alabama
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama that were part of this year’s ranking, University of South Alabama landed the #1 spot on the list. USA is located in Mobile, Alabama and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 49 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
USA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. The yearly cost to attend USA is $15,501 for alabama bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.
Full USA Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Troy University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama. Troy, Alabama is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 135 students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our alabama bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, TROY has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” ranking. It costs about $14,285 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend TROY.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at TROY
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama that were part of this year’s ranking, University of North Alabama landed the #3 spot on the list. University of North Alabama is located in Florence, Alabama and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 92 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
UNA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. The yearly cost to attend University of North Alabama is $14,130 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of North Alabama
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama that were part of this year’s ranking, Auburn University at Montgomery landed the #4 spot on the list. AUM is a medium-sized public school situated in Montgomery, Alabama. It awarded 38 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at AUM, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” ranking. It costs about $13,987 for alabama bachelor’s degree parks & rec students per year to attend AUM.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Auburn University at Montgomery
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Jacksonville State University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama. Jacksonville State University is located in Jacksonville, Alabama and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 26 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Jacksonville State University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. The yearly cost to attend Jacksonville State University is $15,559 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.
Full Jacksonville State University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
University of Alabama in Huntsville ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama list. University of Alabama in Huntsville is a medium-sized school located in Huntsville, Alabama that handed out 37 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
UAH not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. The estimated yearly cost for UAH is $15,860 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Alabama in Huntsville
With a ranking of #7, University of Montevallo did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama list. Located in Montevallo, Alabama, this small public school handed out 31 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
Montevallo did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. It costs about $16,435 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend University of Montevallo.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Montevallo
United States Sports Academy did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama ranking, coming in at #8. Located in Daphne, Alabama, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 8 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at The Academy, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” ranking.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The Academy
University of West Alabama ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama list. Located in Livingston, Alabama, this medium-sized public school handed out 16 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
University of West Alabama did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #11 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. It costs about $15,514 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend University of West Alabama.
Full University of West Alabama Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
Alabama A & M University landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama ranking. Located in Normal, Alabama, this medium-sized public school awarded 26 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.
AAMU also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list, coming in at #12. It costs about $14,990 for alabama bachelor’s degree parks & rec students per year to attend AAMU.
Full AAMU Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report
Huntingdon College landed the #11 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama ranking. This small school is located in Montgomery, Alabama, and it awarded 55 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
Huntingdon College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. The yearly cost to attend Huntingdon College is $21,486 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Huntingdon College
Samford University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama list. This medium-sized school is located in Birmingham, Alabama, and it awarded 28 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.
Samford also took the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Samford University is $29,673 for alabama bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.6% 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%.
Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Samford
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North Carolina
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in North Carolina
Alabama
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Alabama
Georgia
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Georgia
Louisiana
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Louisiana
South Carolina
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Virginia
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Virginia
West Virginia
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in West Virginia
Kentucky
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Kentucky
Tennessee
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Tennessee
Mississippi
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Florida
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Arkansas
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Arkansas
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Southeast Region
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Alabama
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies students in Alabama
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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