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

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 For Those Getting Aid

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is the 152nd most popular major in the country with 3,224 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree 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.

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.

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 For Those Getting Aid”.

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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

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

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 Getting Aid.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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.

UIUC also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $15,880 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid.

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

#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 Getting Aid list. Indiana University - Bloomington is a large public school situated in Bloomington, Indiana. It awarded 181 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

IU Bloomington also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Indiana University - Bloomington is $13,253 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Indiana University - Bloomington

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bowling Green State University - Main Campus. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. Bowling Green State University - Main Campus is a fairly large school located in Bowling Green, Ohio that handed out 55 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

BGSU also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Bowling Green State University - Main Campus is $18,394 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at BGSU

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid. This fairly large school is located in Carbondale, Illinois, and it awarded 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 with aid list, SIUC has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SIUC is $16,945 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid.

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

#5

Northern Michigan University

Marquette, Michigan

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Michigan University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid 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.

Northern Michigan University also took the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Michigan University is $15,453 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Northern Michigan University

#6

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, Aurora University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid list. Aurora University is a medium-sized school located in Aurora, Illinois that handed out 4 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid list, Aurora has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Aurora is $17,215 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid.

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%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Aurora

Ohio University - Athens Campus came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Located in Athens, Ohio, this large public school handed out 21 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

OHIO Athens not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for OHIO Athens is $22,906 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Ohio University - Athens Campus

#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 Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #8. Located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 4 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students 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 with aid per year to attend Olivet Nazarene University.

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 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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