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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

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 3,224 people earned their degree in parks, recreation and leisure studies, making the major the 152nd most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,957 and had an average of $22,487 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 517 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,400 and $24,739 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 analyzed 8 colleges that offered 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most 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 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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 99 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $5,477 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

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

#2

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana University - Bloomington. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Indiana University - Bloomington is a large school located in Bloomington, Indiana that handed out 181 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k list, IU Bloomington has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for IU Bloomington is $4,969 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 4.3% 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%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Indiana University - Bloomington

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, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #3 spot on the list. SIUC 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 not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for SIUC is $13,658 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at SIUC

#4

Northern Michigan University

Marquette, Michigan

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northern Michigan University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k. Northern Michigan University is a medium-sized public school situated in Marquette, Michigan. 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 full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Northern Michigan University

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 located in Bowling Green, Ohio and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 55 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

BGSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #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 Bowling Green State University - Main Campus.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at BGSU

Ohio University - Athens Campus ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Ohio University - Athens Campus is located in Athens, Ohio and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 21 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

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 yearly cost to attend 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 did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #7. This medium-sized school is located in Aurora, Illinois, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Aurora did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. 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 low student loan default rate of 4.4% 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%.

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

#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. Bourbonnais, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene is $15,806 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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%.

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

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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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