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2022 Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s

10 Ranked Colleges
183 Degrees Awarded
$18,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor's

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking.

Outdoor Education is the 314th most popular major in the country with 255 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, outdoor education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $0 and had an average of $0 in loans still to pay off.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 183 outdoor education graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking looked at 10 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in outdoor education. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great outdoor education programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the outdoor education program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Outdoor Education Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. 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.

Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s.

Top 10 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Outdoor Education

#1

Black Hills State University

Spearfish, South Dakota
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Black Hills State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s list. This small school is located in Spearfish, South Dakota, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at BHSU, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $16,641 for bachelor’s degree outdoor ed students per year to attend BHSU.

Full Black Hills State University Outdoor Education Report

#2

SUNY Cortland

Cortland, New York
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, SUNY Cortland landed the #2 spot on the list. This medium-sized school is located in Cortland, New York, and it awarded 8 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees in 2019-2020.

SUNY Cortland also made our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $18,705 for bachelor’s degree outdoor ed students per year to attend SUNY Cortland.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Outdoor Education at SUNY Cortland

#4 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Weber State University landed the #3 spot on the list. WSU is located in Ogden, Utah and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at WSU, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend WSU is $11,968 for Bachelor’s Degree Outdoor Ed students.

Full Weber State University Outdoor Education Report

#4

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, Michigan
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Central Michigan University landed the #4 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and it awarded 41 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees in 2019-2020.

Central Michigan also made our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend Central Michigan is $15,981 for Bachelor’s Degree Outdoor Ed students.

Read full report on Outdoor Education at Central Michigan

#5

Salisbury University

Salisbury, Maryland
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Salisbury University landed the #5 spot on the list. Salisbury is a medium-sized school located in Salisbury, Maryland that handed out 1 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees in 2019-2020.

Salisbury also made our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $19,617 for Bachelor’s Degree Outdoor Ed students per year to attend Salisbury University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Salisbury University Outdoor Education Report

#6

Liberty University

Lynchburg, Virginia
#8 in overall quality

Liberty University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Liberty University is located in Lynchburg, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 10 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees to qualified students.

Liberty University also took the #8 spot in our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Liberty University is $28,903 for bachelor’s degree outdoor ed students.

Read full report on Outdoor Education at Liberty University

#7

Fort Lewis College

Durango, Colorado
#7 in overall quality

Fort Lewis College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s list. FLC is a small school located in Durango, Colorado that handed out 21 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at FLC, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Fort Lewis College is $16,274 for bachelor’s degree outdoor ed students.

Full Fort Lewis College Outdoor Education Report

#8

Murray State University

Murray, Kentucky
#9 in overall quality

Murray State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Murray State University is a medium-sized school located in Murray, Kentucky that handed out 1 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree outdoor ed students list, Murray State has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Murray State University is $11,390 for bachelor’s degree outdoor ed students.

Read full report on Outdoor Education at Murray State

#9

Northern Vermont University

Johnson, Vermont

Northern Vermont University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking, coming in at #9. Northern Vermont University is a small public school situated in Johnson, Vermont. It awarded 13 bachelors’s outdoor ed degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northern Vermont University, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Vermont University is $15,749 for bachelor’s degree outdoor ed students.

Read more about Outdoor Education at Northern Vermont University

#10

New England College

Henniker, New Hampshire
#10 in overall quality

With a ranking of #10, New England College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Outdoor Ed Schools for a Bachelor’s list. Located in Henniker, New Hampshire, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 5 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s outdoor ed students in 2019-2020.

NEC also took the #10 spot in our “Best Outdoor Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend NEC is $29,082 for Bachelor’s Degree Outdoor Ed students.

Read full report on Outdoor Education at New England College

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).
  • 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

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • 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.

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