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2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado

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

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado” ranking.

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 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.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado” ranking looked at 9 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

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 for a Bachelor’s in Colorado” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado

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

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

#1 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado State University - Fort Collins landed the #1 spot on the list. Colorado State is a large school located in Fort Collins, Colorado that handed out 335 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

Colorado State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. It costs about $18,668 for colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students per year to attend Colorado State University - Fort Collins.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. 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%.

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

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Northern Colorado. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado list. University of Northern Colorado is a public institution located in Greeley, Colorado. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 162 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Northern Colorado, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Northern Colorado is $15,714 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

Full University of Northern Colorado Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#3

Western Colorado University

Gunnison, Colorado
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Colorado University landed the #3 spot on the list. Gunnison, Colorado is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 54 students in 2019-2020.

Western not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for Western is $17,282 for colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

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

#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 #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado. MSU Denver is located in Denver, Colorado and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 122 bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at MSU Denver, the school also landed the #5 spot 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.

Full MSU Denver Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Colorado State University - Pueblo. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado. Pueblo, Colorado is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 40 students in 2019-2020.

Colorado State University - Pueblo also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for Colorado State University - Pueblo is $14,653 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

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

#6

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado
#7 in overall quality

Colorado Mesa University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado list. Grand Junction, Colorado is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s parks and rec degrees to 131 students in 2019-2020.

Colorado Mesa not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for Colorado Mesa University is $15,569 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Colorado Mesa University

#7

Adams State University

Alamosa, Colorado
#8 in overall quality

Adams State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado list. Located in Alamosa, Colorado, this small public school awarded 50 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 list, Adams State has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Adams State is $14,064 for colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students.

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

#8

Fort Lewis College

Durango, Colorado
#9 in overall quality

With a ranking of #8, Fort Lewis College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado list. FLC is a public institution located in Durango, Colorado. The school has a small population, and it awarded 72 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

FLC also took the #9 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for FLC is $16,274 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Parks & Rec students.

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

#2 in overall quality

Johnson & Wales University - Denver landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado ranking. Johnson & Wales University - Denver is a private not-for-profit institution located in Denver, Colorado. The school has a small population, and it awarded 16 bachelors’s 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. It costs about $26,221 for colorado bachelor’s degree parks & rec students per year to attend JWU Denver.

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 more about 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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