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2023 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Colleges for Veterans in the Rocky Mountains Region

5 Ranked Colleges
273 Degrees Awarded
$23,400 Avg Cost*
Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec

Veterans 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 “Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is the 166th most popular major in the country with 3,106 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,801 and had an average of $23,333 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Rocky Mountains region, there were 273 parks, recreation and leisure studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,800 and $18,161 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec” ranking, we looked at 5 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 offer a lot of support to veterans and active service members.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the parks, recreation and leisure studies program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Schools

Rankings by Degree Other Award Levels
Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Parks & Rec Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 “Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec

The colleges and universities below are the best for rocky mountains region vets studying parks & rec.

Top 5 Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Colleges for Veterans in the Rocky Mountains Region

1
U of U crest
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah

Out of the 5 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Utah landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, this large public school awarded 76 degrees to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at U of U, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 33,081 students enrolled at U of U, 1 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 0 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $0. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

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 undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read More…

2
Southern Utah University crest
Southern Utah University
Cedar City, Utah

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Utah University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec list. Cedar City, Utah is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 14 students in 2020-2021.

Southern Utah University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Of the 12,582 students enrolled at Southern Utah University, 534 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 378 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $24,076. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Southern Utah University offers credit for military training for eligible students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 veteran student life at Southern Utah University]](/colleges/southern-utah-university/student-life/veterans/)

3

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Brigham Young University - Provo. The school came in at #3 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec. Brigham Young University - Provo is a large school located in Provo, Utah that handed out 110 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at BYU, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, Brigham Young University - Provo supports 36,461 students, and 368 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 220 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $3,856. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full BYU Veteran Student Life Report

4

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Metropolitan State University of Denver. The school came in at #4 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec. Located in Denver, Colorado, this fairly large public school awarded 14 diplomas to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at MSU Denver, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, MSU Denver supports 19,086 students, and 1,222 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 867 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $6,619. On top of their other funding sources, 7 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Read More…

5
Western crest
Western Colorado University
Gunnison, Colorado

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Colorado University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Parks & Rec list. Gunnison, Colorado is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 31 students in 2020-2021.

Western not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Our most recent data shows that 75 of the 3,203 students enrolled at Western were GI Bill® students, of which 46 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $7,543. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

Full Western Veteran Student Life Report

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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