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2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid

9 Ranked Colleges
1,015 Degrees Awarded
$17,000 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor's in Colorado For Those Getting Aid

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 Colorado, there were 1,205 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,553 and $20,903 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 1,015 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,261 and $25,672 respectively.

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

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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 Colorado For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Colorado (With Aid)

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado State University - Fort Collins. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Fort Collins, Colorado, this large public school awarded 335 degrees to qualified bachelors’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid list, Colorado State has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Colorado State is $18,668 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Full Colorado State University - Fort Collins Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Metropolitan State University of Denver. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. Denver, Colorado is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 122 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid list, MSU Denver has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Metropolitan State University of Denver is $14,257 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Metropolitan State University of Denver

#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northern Colorado. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. University of Northern Colorado is located in Greeley, Colorado and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 162 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

University of Northern Colorado also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $15,714 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid per year to attend University of Northern Colorado.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Northern Colorado

#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado State University - Pueblo. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid list. Colorado State University - Pueblo is a public institution located in Pueblo, Colorado. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 40 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Colorado State University - Pueblo not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for Colorado State University - Pueblo is $14,653 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Colorado State University - Pueblo

#5

Adams State University

Alamosa, Colorado
#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Adams State University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid. Adams State University is located in Alamosa, Colorado and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 50 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Adams State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The yearly cost to attend Adams State is $14,064 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Adams State University

#6

Western Colorado University

Gunnison, Colorado
#4 in overall quality

Western Colorado University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking. Western is a public institution located in Gunnison, Colorado. The school has a small population, and it awarded 54 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Western did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. It costs about $17,282 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid per year to attend Western Colorado University.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Western

#7

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado
#7 in overall quality

Colorado Mesa University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. Colorado Mesa University is a medium-sized school located in Grand Junction, Colorado that handed out 131 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Colorado Mesa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. It costs about $15,569 for colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid per year to attend Colorado Mesa.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Colorado Mesa

#8

Fort Lewis College

Durango, Colorado
#9 in overall quality

Fort Lewis College landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking. FLC is a small school located in Durango, Colorado that handed out 72 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

FLC also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #9. The yearly cost to attend Fort Lewis College is $16,274 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students with aid.

Full Fort Lewis College Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#2 in overall quality

Johnson & Wales University - Denver came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Getting Aid ranking. Johnson & Wales University - Denver is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Denver, Colorado. It awarded 16 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

JWU Denver did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for JWU Denver is $26,221 for colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students with aid.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at JWU Denver

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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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