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2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k

9 Ranked Colleges
82 Degrees Awarded
$30,600 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the 15th most popular major in the country with 72,122 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,823 and had an average of $24,576 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 10,194 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,368 and $24,957 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 82 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $74,428 and $121,375 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 9 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs, but they also cost less that 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, leisure, and fitness studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region doctor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 9 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region

#1 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

U-M did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor are $49,548, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at U-M

#2

Michigan State University

East Lansing, Michigan
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Michigan State University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k. Michigan State University is located in East Lansing, Michigan and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 18 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Michigan State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Michigan State University are $37,056, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Michigan State Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #3 spot on the list. UW - Madison is a large public school situated in Madison, Wisconsin. It awarded 2 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UW - Madison also took the #5 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UW - Madison are $25,523, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UW - Madison Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#4

Indiana University - Bloomington

Bloomington, Indiana
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Indiana University - Bloomington. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Indiana University - Bloomington is a large public school situated in Bloomington, Indiana. It awarded 12 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

IU Bloomington not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Indiana University - Bloomington are $33,338, but some majors have different tuition rates.

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

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 12 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region doctor’s degree parks & rec students whose families make $0-$30k list, UIUC has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#3 in overall quality

Ohio State University - Main Campus ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Columbus, Ohio is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

Ohio State also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #3. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Ohio State University - Main Campus are $37,141.

Full Ohio State University - Main Campus Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#7 in overall quality

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee is a public institution located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school has a large population, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UWM did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UWM are $25,295.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

#8

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

With a ranking of #8, Concordia University, Chicago did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Concordia University, Chicago is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in River Forest, Illinois. It awarded 13 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Concordia University, Chicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Chicago

#9

University of Toledo

Toledo, Ohio
#8 in overall quality

With a ranking of #9, University of Toledo did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Toledo is a fairly large school located in Toledo, Ohio that handed out 3 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Toledo, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Toledo are $27,067, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Toledo

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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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