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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the Great Lakes Region

8 Ranked Colleges
425 Degrees Awarded
$17,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in the Great Lakes Region

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent parks, recreation and leisure studies programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 the Great Lakes Region”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in the Great Lakes Region

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bowling Green State University - Main Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region. Bowling Green State University - Main Campus is a public institution located in Bowling Green, Ohio. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 55 bachelors’s 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 $18,394 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend BGSU.

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

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #2 spot on the list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 21 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUC, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Southern Illinois University Carbondale is $16,945 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

Full SIUC Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#3 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Ohio University - Athens Campus landed the #3 spot on the list. OHIO Athens is a large school located in Athens, Ohio that handed out 21 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, OHIO Athens has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $22,906 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students per year to attend OHIO Athens.

Full OHIO Athens 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 list. Marquette, Michigan is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 29 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northern Michigan University, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northern Michigan University is $15,453 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Northern Michigan University

#1 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #5 spot on the list. UIUC is located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 99 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students list, UIUC has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $15,880 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

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 more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#6

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Aurora University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Aurora, Illinois, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Aurora also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #7. It costs about $17,215 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students per year to attend Aurora University.

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%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Aurora University

#7

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana
#2 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, Indiana University - Bloomington did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region list. This large school is located in Bloomington, Indiana, and it awarded 181 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

IU Bloomington did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for IU Bloomington is $13,253 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

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

#8

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

Olivet Nazarene University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit institution located in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $20,195 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend Olivet Nazarene University.

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 more about 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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