2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 72,122 people earned their degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the 15th most popular in the United States. 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 Plains States region, there were 5,808 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,644 and $24,923 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 17 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $72,701 and $106,703 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs and 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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

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 Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. 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 Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid.

Top 4 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Plains States Region (With Aid)

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$22,648 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northern Iowa. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid. Cedar Falls, Iowa is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s parks and rec degrees to 5 students in 2019-2020.

UNI also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Northern Iowa are $22,648.

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

#2

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$25,948 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa State University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Ames, Iowa, this large public school handed out 6 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s parks and rec students in 2019-2020.

Iowa State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Iowa State are $25,948.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Iowa State University

#3

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$27,613 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #3 spot on the list. Iowa is a large school located in Iowa City, Iowa that handed out 5 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #2. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Iowa are $27,613, but some majors have different tuition rates.

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

#4

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Omaha, Nebraska

#4 in overall quality

$16,374 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Nebraska at Omaha. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Doctorate in the Plains States Region For Those Getting Aid. University of Nebraska at Omaha is a fairly large public school situated in Omaha, Nebraska. It awarded 1 doctorate’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

UNOMAHA also took the #4 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UNOMAHA are $16,374.

Read more about Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies (With Aid)

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.

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