by our College Data Analytics Team
[Therapeutic Recreation/Recreational Therapy](/majors/health-care-professions/rehab-and-therapeutic-professions/therapeutic-recreation-recreational-therapy/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. The best values balance affordable tuition against strong post-graduation earnings.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 67 schools to find the best return on investment for therapeutic recreation/recreational therapy students.
What’s on this page:
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the therapeutic recreation/recreational therapy degrees they offer, see the list below.
Fremont College tops our 2026 list of the best value therapeutic recreation/recreational therapy schools in the United States. Fremont College is a small private for-profit school located in the suburb of Cerritos. Typical student debt for therapeutic recreation/recreational therapy graduates is $20,000. Early-career therapeutic recreation/recreational therapy graduates make about $17,956. Set against $20,000 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff.
Explore the best-value therapeutic recreation/recreational therapy schools at other degree levels:
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 67 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 2 ranked schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.