2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s

When it comes to choosing a college, veterans have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 73,813 people earned their degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the 15th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,423 and had an average of $24,388 in loans still to pay off.

Across Maine, there were 200 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,747 and $26,482 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 192 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,463 and $30,985 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

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, veteran affordability, and veteran population. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s

The colleges and universities below are the best for maine bachelor’s degree vets studying parks & rec.

Top 3 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in Maine

1

University of New England
Biddeford, Maine

39 GI Bill® Students**

#1 in overall quality

$11,574 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of New England. The school came in at #1 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s. University of New England is located in Biddeford, Maine and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 57 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

UNE also took the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Maine” ranking.According to our most recent data, University of New England supports 7,208 students, and 39 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 17 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $11,574. On top of their other funding sources, 9 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

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

[Read full report on veteran student life at University of New England]](/colleges/university-of-new-england/student-life/veterans/)

2

Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, Maine

15 GI Bill® Students**

#2 in overall quality

$8,527 Average GI Bill® Award

Out of the 3 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine landed the #2 spot on the list. Saint Joseph’s Maine is a private not-for-profit institution located in Standish, Maine. The school has a small population, and it awarded 21 bachelors’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Saint Joseph’s Maine also took the #2 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Maine” ranking.According to our most recent data, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine supports 1,967 students, and 15 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 8 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $8,527. To help with additional expenses, 4 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

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

[Read full report on veteran student life at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine]](/colleges/saint-josephs-college-of-maine/student-life/veterans/)

3

Thomas College
Waterville, Maine

39 GI Bill® Students**

#3 in overall quality

$11,924 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Thomas College. The school came in at #3 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Maine for Parks & Rec for a Bachelor’s. Thomas College is a small school located in Waterville, Maine that handed out 13 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

Thomas College also took the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Maine” ranking.Among the 1,705 students enrolled at Thomas College, 39 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 20 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $11,924. On top of their other funding sources, 4 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Thomas College offers credit for military training for eligible students.

Full Thomas College Veteran Student Life Report

• Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the New England Region
• Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans

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).
• Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• 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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
• 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.