2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in Washington
7
Ranked Colleges
706
Degrees Awarded
$33,500
Avg Cost*
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 Washington for Parks & Rec” 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 Washington, there were 706 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,351 and $22,581 respectively.
For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs as well as strong veteran support.
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. 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 “Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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. 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.
Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec”.
Top 7 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in Washington
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Washington State University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec list. Wazzu is a public institution located in Pullman, Washington. The school has a large population, and it awarded 156 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Wazzu, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, Washington State University supports 31,159 students, and 83 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 53 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $6,702. In addition to receiving other benefits, 1 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%.
Full Washington State University Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Gonzaga University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec list. Gonzaga is a medium-sized school located in Spokane, Washington that handed out 64 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
Gonzaga also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 7,295 students enrolled at Gonzaga, 270 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 231 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $14,276. In addition to receiving other benefits, 73 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Gonzaga Veteran Student Life Report
Out of the 7 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec that were part of this year’s ranking, Pacific Lutheran University landed the #3 spot on the list. Pacific Lutheran University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Tacoma, Washington. The school has a small population, and it awarded 42 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
PLU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Our most recent data shows that 296 of the 2,907 students enrolled at PLU were GI Bill® students, of which 188 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $16,941. During this same period, 77 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 More…
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Seattle University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec list. Located in Seattle, Washington, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 40 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Seattle U, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Of the 7,050 students enrolled at Seattle U, 39 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 23 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $9,383. On top of their other funding sources, 13 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
[Read full report on veteran student life at Seattle University]](/colleges/seattle-university/student-life/veterans/)
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Washington University. The school came in at #5 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec. WWU is a public institution located in Bellingham, Washington. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 116 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
WWU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Among the 15,197 students enrolled at Western Washington University, 622 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 324 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $5,933. On top of their other funding sources, 7 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at WWU]](/colleges/western-washington-university/student-life/veterans/)
Eastern Washington University landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec ranking. Cheney, Washington is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 39 students in 2020-2021.
EWU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Our most recent data shows that 647 of the 12,349 students enrolled at EWU were GI Bill® students, of which 296 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,760. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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%.
Full EWU Veteran Student Life Report
With a ranking of #7, Central Washington University did quite well on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Washington for Parks & Rec list. Central Washington University is a fairly large school located in Ellensburg, Washington that handed out 129 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
CWU also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Our most recent data shows that 711 of the 11,174 students enrolled at Central Washington University were GI Bill® students, of which 327 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $5,593. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Central Washington University offers credit for military training for eligible students.
Full CWU Veteran Student Life Report
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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).
- 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
- *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
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