2023 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in South Dakota
4
Ranked Colleges
344
Degrees Awarded
$20,400
Avg Cost*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec” ranking is part of that endeavor.
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 South Dakota, there were 344 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,046 and $25,408 respectively.
For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer 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 offer a lot of support to 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools
When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec” list to help you make the college 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. 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 South Dakota for Parks & Rec
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec”.
Top 4 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in South Dakota
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Dakota State University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec list. South Dakota State University is a fairly large public school situated in Brookings, South Dakota. It awarded 50 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our south dakota vets studying parks & rec list, South Dakota State has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Of the 11,405 students enrolled at South Dakota State University, 369 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 158 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $5,731. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. South Dakota State University 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 South Dakota State]](/colleges/south-dakota-state-university/student-life/veterans/)
Out of the 4 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Sioux Falls landed the #2 spot on the list. Sioux Falls, South Dakota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 38 students in 2020-2021.
University of Sioux Falls also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Among the 1,628 students enrolled at University of Sioux Falls, 59 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 32 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $9,281. 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 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 More…
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Black Hills State University. The school came in at #3 for the Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec. Located in Spearfish, South Dakota, this small public school handed out 41 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.
BHSU also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Our most recent data shows that 208 of the 3,608 students enrolled at Black Hills State University were GI Bill® students, of which 88 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $3,863. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
[Read full report on veteran student life at Black Hills State University]](/colleges/black-hills-state-university/student-life/veterans/)
Out of the 4 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in South Dakota for Parks & Rec that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern State University landed the #4 spot on the list. NSU is a small school located in Aberdeen, South Dakota that handed out 33 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our south dakota vets studying parks & rec list, NSU has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Of the 3,431 students enrolled at NSU, 45 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 14 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $5,287. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for 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 NSU]](/colleges/northern-state-university/student-life/veterans/)
Focus on a Specific Degree Level
Kansas
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Iowa
Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in Iowa
North Dakota
Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in North Dakota
Nebraska
Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in Nebraska
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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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