2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s
10
Ranked Colleges
755
Degrees Awarded
$41,634
Avg Salary
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. College Factual has developed its “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the 15th most popular major in the country with 73,813 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. 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 Illinois, there were 2,442 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,264 and $24,988 respectively.
This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s” ranking analyzed 10 colleges that offered 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
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. 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.
Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s”.
Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in Illinois
Out of the 10 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 53 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
UIUC also took the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking.According to our most recent data, UIUC supports 52,679 students, and 10 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 0 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $0. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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 UIUC]](/colleges/university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign/student-life/veterans/)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 38 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
SIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list.Among the 11,366 students enrolled at SIUC, 1 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 0 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $0. During this same period, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. SIUC offers credit for military training for eligible students.
Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s list. SIUE is a public institution located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 64 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
SIUE also took the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking.Of the 12,860 students enrolled at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 3 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 2 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $23,082. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
Read More…
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Aurora University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s list. This medium-sized school is located in Aurora, Illinois, and it awarded 21 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
Aurora also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6.Of the 6,265 students enrolled at Aurora University, 3 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $6,999. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received funds 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%.
Full Aurora University Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s list. Illinois State University is a large public school situated in Normal, Illinois. It awarded 67 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
Illinois State also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #4.According to our most recent data, Illinois State supports 20,720 students, and 530 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 163 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $6,997. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Illinois State offers credit for military training for eligible students.
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 Illinois State]](/colleges/illinois-state-university/student-life/veterans/)
Western Illinois University landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s ranking. Located in Macomb, Illinois, this medium-sized public school handed out 47 diplomas to qualified masters’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at WIU, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 330 of the 7,490 students enrolled at WIU were GI Bill® students, of which 62 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $4,652. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. WIU does offer credit for military training for eligible students.
Read More…
Eastern Illinois University did quite well in the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s ranking, coming in at #7. This medium-sized school is located in Charleston, Illinois, and it awarded 28 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
EIU also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #9.Among the 8,626 students enrolled at Eastern Illinois University, 184 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 46 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,730. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eastern Illinois University offers credit for military training for eligible students.
[Read full report on veteran student life at Eastern Illinois University]](/colleges/eastern-illinois-university/student-life/veterans/)
Northern Illinois University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s ranking. NIU is a fairly large public school situated in Dekalb, Illinois. It awarded 27 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
NIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list.According to our most recent data, Northern Illinois University supports 16,769 students, and 480 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 207 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $7,822. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Read More…
With a ranking of #9, Northwestern University did quite well on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s list. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 62 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking.According to our most recent data, Northwestern University supports 22,603 students, and 1 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 1 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $399. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
[Read full report on veteran student life at Northwestern]](/colleges/northwestern-university/student-life/veterans/)
Concordia University, Chicago came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Parks & Rec for a Master’s ranking. Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in River Forest, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 300 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Concordia University, Chicago also took the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking.Among the 6,491 students enrolled at Concordia University, Chicago, 134 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 96 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $7,085. In addition to receiving other benefits, 4 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Concordia University, Chicago does offer credit for military training for eligible students.
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 Concordia University, Chicago]](/colleges/concordia-university-chicago/student-life/veterans/)
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