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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in California

9 Ranked Colleges
566 Degrees Awarded
$12,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in California

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 California” 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 California, there were 635 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 566 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree 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.

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 parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

The parks & rec school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. 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.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in California

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. California State University - Long Beach is a public institution located in Long Beach, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 87 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

CSULB also took the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend California State University - Long Beach is $9,622 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

The low student loan default rate of 1.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full CSULB Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Fresno landed the #2 spot on the list. Fresno State is a large school located in Fresno, California that handed out 37 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Fresno State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $5,464 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend Fresno State.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Fresno

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Chico. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. California State University - Chico is a fairly large school located in Chico, California that handed out 87 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, Chico State has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Chico is $15,017 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Chico State Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#4

San Jose State University

San Jose, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. San Jose, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 31 students in 2019-2020.

San Jose State also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for San Jose State University is $14,928 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at San Jose State University

#2 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Sacramento landed the #5 spot on the list. California State University - Sacramento is a public institution located in Sacramento, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 121 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Sac State also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Sacramento is $9,979 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

The low student loan default rate of 4.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full California State University - Sacramento Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#7 in overall quality

California State University - East Bay ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. This fairly large school is located in Hayward, California, and it awarded 32 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Cal State East Bay did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Cal State East Bay is $11,116 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - East Bay

#7

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, California
#8 in overall quality

San Francisco State University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. SFSU is a public institution located in San Francisco, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 35 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SFSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for SFSU is $15,113 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at San Francisco State University

#8

San Diego State University

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

San Diego State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. San Diego, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 41 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, SDSU has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SDSU is $14,788 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

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

#9

Humboldt State University

Arcata, California
#9 in overall quality

Humboldt State University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. Located in Arcata, California, this medium-sized public school awarded 13 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, Humboldt State University has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Humboldt State University is $14,692 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

Full Humboldt State University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

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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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