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2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

9 Ranked Colleges
566 Degrees Awarded
$12,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in California

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 California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 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.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer 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.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school. 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 California”.

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. 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

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

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies in California

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the #1 spot on the list. CSULB is a large public school situated in Long Beach, California. It awarded 87 bachelors’s parks and rec 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. The estimated yearly cost for California State University - Long Beach is $9,622 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Fresno. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. California State University - Fresno is located in Fresno, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 37 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Fresno State also took the #6 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $5,464 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend California State University - Fresno.

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

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Chico. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Chico, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 87 students in 2019-2020.

Chico State also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Chico State is $15,017 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

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 full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - Chico

#4

San Jose State University

San Jose, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. San Jose State University is a public institution located in San Jose, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 31 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

San Jose State also made our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend San Jose State is $14,928 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.7% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Full San Jose State University Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Report

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Sacramento landed the #5 spot on the list. Sac State is a public institution located in Sacramento, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 121 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Sac State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Sac State is $9,979 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Sac State

California State University - East Bay landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. California State University - East Bay is a fairly large public school situated in Hayward, California. It awarded 32 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal State East Bay, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $11,116 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend California State University - East Bay.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at California State University - East Bay

#7

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, California

San Francisco State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. San Francisco State University is a large school located in San Francisco, California that handed out 35 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

SFSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $15,113 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students per year to attend SFSU.

Read more about Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at San Francisco State University

#8

San Diego State University

San Diego, California

San Diego State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. SDSU is a public institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 41 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SDSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend San Diego State University is $14,788 for California Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

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

#9

Humboldt State University

Arcata, California
#9 in overall quality

With a ranking of #9, Humboldt State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. 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 did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $14,692 for california bachelor’s degree parks & rec students 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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