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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $48-$75k) in California

9 Ranked Colleges
566 Degrees Awarded
$33,886 Avg Salary
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $48-$75k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 California, there were 635 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,886 and $18,560 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.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 9 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation and leisure studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation and leisure studies programs that also have a lower cost than 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 California For Those Making $48-$75k” list to help you make the college 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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $48-$75k) in California

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fresno. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k 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 also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend California State University - Fresno is $7,549 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.7% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. CSULB 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 not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $10,807 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend California State University - Long Beach.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its 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%.

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

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Sacramento landed the #3 spot on the list. Sacramento, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 121 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k list, Sac State has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Sacramento is $11,413 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k.

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 Sac State Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#4

San Diego State University

San Diego, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. 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.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SDSU, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for SDSU is $14,730 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, 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 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full SDSU Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#5

San Jose State University

San Jose, California

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. San Jose State University is located in San Jose, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 31 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at San Jose State, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend San Jose State University is $16,397 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

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

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Chico did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in Chico, California, this fairly large public school handed out 87 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

Chico State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Chico is $16,116 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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 Chico State

California State University - East Bay ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. This fairly large school is located in Hayward, California, and it awarded 32 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $48-$75k list, Cal State East Bay has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $13,048 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Cal State East Bay.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Cal State East Bay

#8

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, California

With a ranking of #8, San Francisco State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. SFSU is located in San Francisco, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 35 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SFSU, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SFSU is $16,661 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $48-$75k.

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

#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 For Those Making $48-$75k ranking. Humboldt State University is a medium-sized school located in Arcata, California that handed out 13 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Humboldt State University also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #9. It costs about $15,723 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Humboldt State University.

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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