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2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas

9 Ranked Colleges
659 Degrees Awarded
$14,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in Arkansas

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 Bachelor’s in Arkansas” 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 Arkansas, there were 951 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,422 and $21,178 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 659 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $36,332 and $22,750 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas” ranking, we looked at 9 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. 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 for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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 Bachelor’s in Arkansas

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Arkansas

#1

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, Arkansas
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Arkansas landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and it awarded 276 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our arkansas bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, UARK has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Arkansas is $16,381 for Arkansas Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

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

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Arkansas State University - Main Campus. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas list. A-State is a public institution located in Jonesboro, Arkansas. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 78 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

A-State also took the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” ranking. It costs about $13,406 for Arkansas Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend Arkansas State University - Main Campus.

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

#4 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Central Arkansas landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Central Arkansas is a fairly large public school situated in Conway, Arkansas. It awarded 71 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UCA also took the #4 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UCA is $15,376 for Arkansas Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

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

#7 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Arkansas at Monticello landed the #4 spot on the list. UAM is a small public school situated in Monticello, Arkansas. It awarded 30 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UAM, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UAM is $12,136 for Arkansas Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Arkansas at Monticello

#5

Henderson State University

Arkadelphia, Arkansas
#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Henderson State University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas list. Henderson State University is a small public school situated in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. It awarded 28 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our arkansas bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, Henderson State University has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Henderson State University is $10,270 for arkansas bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

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

#8 in overall quality

Southern Arkansas University Main Campus landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas ranking. Located in Magnolia, Arkansas, this small public school handed out 26 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Southern Arkansas University Main Campus, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” ranking. It costs about $14,270 for Arkansas Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend Southern Arkansas University Main Campus.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern Arkansas University Main Campus

#7

Arkansas Tech University

Russellville, Arkansas
#9 in overall quality

Arkansas Tech University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas ranking. ATU is a public institution located in Russellville, Arkansas. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

ATU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” list. The estimated yearly cost for Arkansas Tech University is $10,772 for Arkansas Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Arkansas Tech University

#8

Harding University

Searcy, Arkansas
#2 in overall quality

Harding University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas ranking, coming in at #8. Searcy, Arkansas is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 40 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our arkansas bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, Harding has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” ranking. It costs about $19,375 for arkansas bachelor’s degree parks & rec students per year to attend Harding.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

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

#9

Ouachita Baptist University

Arkadelphia, Arkansas
#5 in overall quality

Ouachita Baptist University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Arkansas ranking. Ouachita Baptist University is a small school located in Arkadelphia, Arkansas that handed out 17 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Ouachita Baptist did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Arkansas” list. It costs about $19,815 for Arkansas Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend Ouachita Baptist University.

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

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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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