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2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k

8 Ranked Colleges
425 Degrees Awarded
$11,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k

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 Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 3,224 people earned their degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies, making the major the 191st most popular in the United States.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 517 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 425 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,075 and $25,381 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation and leisure studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great parks, recreation and leisure studies programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 99 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $5,477 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at UIUC

#2

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #2 spot on the list. Indiana University - Bloomington is a large public school situated in Bloomington, Indiana. It awarded 181 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at IU Bloomington, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Indiana University - Bloomington is $4,969 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at IU Bloomington

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 21 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $13,658 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#4

Northern Michigan University

Marquette, Michigan
#8 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Michigan University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. This medium-sized school is located in Marquette, Michigan, and it awarded 29 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Northern Michigan University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Michigan University is $9,137 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Northern Michigan University

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bowling Green State University - Main Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Bowling Green State University - Main Campus is a fairly large school located in Bowling Green, Ohio that handed out 55 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

BGSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. It costs about $14,521 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend BGSU.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Bowling Green State University - Main Campus

#3 in overall quality

Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. OHIO Athens is a large public school situated in Athens, Ohio. It awarded 21 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at OHIO Athens, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Ohio University - Athens Campus is $17,584 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at OHIO Athens

#7

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Aurora University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Aurora University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Aurora, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Aurora also took the #7 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $14,103 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Aurora.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Aurora University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#8

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

Olivet Nazarene University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Olivet Nazarene is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Olivet Nazarene also took the #6 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene University is $15,806 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Olivet Nazarene University

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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).
  • 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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