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2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region

8 Ranked Colleges
82 Degrees Awarded
$30,600 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate 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” 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 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” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered 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.

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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region doctor’s degree parks & rec students.

Top 9 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Concordia University, Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. Concordia University, Chicago is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in River Forest, Illinois. It awarded 13 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

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. Average graduate tuition and fees at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Chicago

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region. University of Wisconsin - Madison is a large school located in Madison, Wisconsin that handed out 2 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UW - Madison also took the #5 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 University of Wisconsin - Madison are $25,523, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Wisconsin - Madison Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#2

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana University - Bloomington. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. IU Bloomington is located in Bloomington, Indiana and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 12 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at IU Bloomington, the school also landed 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 Indiana University - Bloomington are $33,338, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Indiana University - Bloomington Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee is a public institution located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school has a large population, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region doctor’s degree parks & rec students list, UWM has also earned the #7 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 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee are $25,295, but some majors have different tuition rates.

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

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to 12 students in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 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 UIUC are $30,083.

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

#5

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Michigan State University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. Michigan State University 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.

In addition to being on our great lakes region doctor’s degree parks & rec students list, Michigan State has also earned the #2 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 Michigan State University are $37,056, but some majors have different tuition rates.

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

#3 in overall quality

Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #6. Ohio State is located in Columbus, Ohio and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 11 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Ohio State also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #3. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio State University - Main Campus are $37,141.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Ohio State University - Main Campus

#7

University of Toledo

Toledo, Ohio
#8 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, University of Toledo did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Toledo is a fairly large school located in Toledo, Ohio that handed out 3 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

University of Toledo did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #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

#1 in overall quality

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region ranking, coming in at #8. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

U-M also took the #1 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 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor are $49,548, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

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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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