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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region

8 Ranked Colleges
425 Degrees Awarded
$21,000 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k

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 $75-$110k” 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.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k” 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.

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 the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. 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 the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region

#1

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Indiana University - Bloomington landed the #1 spot on the 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.

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. It costs about $18,951 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend IU Bloomington.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. 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 Indiana University - Bloomington

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 99 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also took the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $21,998 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $75-$110k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. 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 more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at UIUC

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 #3 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k. BGSU 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.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $75-$110k list, BGSU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Bowling Green State University - Main Campus is $20,277 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $75-$110k.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at BGSU

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 21 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #5 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. It costs about $20,698 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend SIUC.

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

#5

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Aurora University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k. Aurora is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Aurora, Illinois. It awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Aurora, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Aurora is $19,609 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $75-$110k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Aurora Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

#6

Northern Michigan University

Marquette, Michigan

Northern Michigan University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k 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 $20,208 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students whose families make $75-$110k.

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

Ohio University - Athens Campus ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. OHIO Athens is a large school located in Athens, Ohio that handed out 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. It costs about $25,039 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend OHIO Athens.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at OHIO Athens

#8

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

Olivet Nazarene University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $75-$110k ranking, coming in at #8. This small school is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees 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 yearly cost to attend Olivet Nazarene is $21,306 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $75-$110k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 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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