2023 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $30-$48k) in Maine

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the 15th most popular major in the country with 73,813 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,423 and had an average of $24,388 in loans still to pay off.

Across Maine, there were 200 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,747 and $26,482 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k” 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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $30-$48k) in Maine

1

Thomas College
Waterville, Maine

#3 in overall quality

$18,791 Average Net Price

$37,918 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Thomas College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k. Thomas College is located in Waterville, Maine and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 13 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our maine parks & rec students whose families make $30-$48k list, Thomas College has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Maine” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Thomas College is $18,791 for Maine Parks & Rec students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Thomas College

2

Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, Maine

#2 in overall quality

$22,844 Average Net Price

$58,620 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Saint Joseph’s College of Maine. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k. Located in Standish, Maine, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 21 diplomas to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.

Saint Joseph’s Maine also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Maine” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend Saint Joseph’s Maine is $22,844 for Maine Parks & Rec students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.3% 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, & Fitness Studies at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine

3

University of New England
Biddeford, Maine

#1 in overall quality

$29,941 Average Net Price

$61,270 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of New England. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools in Maine For Those Making $30-$48k list. UNE is a private not-for-profit institution located in Biddeford, Maine. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 57 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UNE not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools in Maine” list. It costs about $29,941 for Maine Parks & Rec students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UNE.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% 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, & Fitness Studies at UNE

• Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $30-$48k) in the New England Region
• Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (Income $30-$48k)

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.