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

7 Ranked Colleges
55 Degrees Awarded
$23,100 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 Southwest Region” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 the Southwest region, there were 9,967 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,090 and $22,308 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 55 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,970 and $95,025 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region” ranking looked at 7 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Southwest 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. 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 Doctorate in the Southwest Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region.

Top 8 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Southwest Region

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Texas Woman’s University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region. Located in Denton, Texas, this fairly large public school handed out 11 degrees to qualified doctorate’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

TWU also took the #6 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Texas Woman’s University are $14,962, but some majors have different tuition rates.

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

#2

University of Houston

Houston, Texas
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Houston. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region list. Houston, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to 8 students in 2019-2020.

UH also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #4. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Houston are $18,689, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at UH

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region list. The University of Texas at Austin is located in Austin, Texas and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

UT Austin not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UT Austin are $22,886, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at UT Austin

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Texas A&M University - College Station. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region list. Texas A&M University - College Station is a large public school situated in College Station, Texas. It awarded 8 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Texas A&M College Station also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #2. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Texas A&M College Station are $22,743.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas A&M College Station

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Oklahoma State University - Main Campus landed the #5 spot on the list. This large school is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

OSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at OSU are $23,963.

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

#7 in overall quality

The University of Texas at Arlington ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region list. UT Arlington is a large school located in Arlington, Texas that handed out 6 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Arlington did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at The University of Texas at Arlington are $23,376, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at UT Arlington

#8 in overall quality

New Mexico State University - Main Campus landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region ranking. This fairly large school is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NMSU Main Campus, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at New Mexico State University - Main Campus are $18,275.

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

#7

Baylor University

Waco, Texas
#3 in overall quality

Baylor University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Southwest Region ranking. Baylor is a fairly large school located in Waco, Texas that handed out 4 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Baylor did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Baylor are $36,936.

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

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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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