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2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in Illinois

9 Ranked Colleges
675 Degrees Awarded
$21,400 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master's in Illinois

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 Master’s in Illinois” 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 Illinois, there were 2,352 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,766 and $23,636 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 675 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered 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.

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

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois master’s degree parks & rec students.

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

#1

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Concordia University, Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in River Forest, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 257 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Concordia University, Chicago also took the #3 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Concordia University, Chicago

#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s parks and rec degrees to 44 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIUC, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083, but some majors have different tuition rates.

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

#3

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois State University landed the #3 spot on the list. Illinois State University is a large public school situated in Normal, Illinois. It awarded 78 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree parks & rec students list, Illinois State has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois State are $11,069.

Full Illinois State University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#4

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Illinois University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s parks and rec degrees to 74 students in 2019-2020.

WIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Western Illinois University are $11,996.

Full Western Illinois University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#8 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a fairly large public school situated in Edwardsville, Illinois. It awarded 65 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUE did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at SIUE are $9,300, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Eastern Illinois University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois ranking. EIU is located in Charleston, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 38 masters’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

EIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Eastern Illinois University are $20,761, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Eastern Illinois University

#6 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 24 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #6 spot in our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are $32,928, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#8

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois
#9 in overall quality

Northern Illinois University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Northern Illinois University is a fairly large school located in Dekalb, Illinois that handed out 25 masters’s parks and rec degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU also made our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #9. Average graduate tuition and fees at NIU are $11,086, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Northern Illinois University Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Report

#9

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

Northwestern University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Parks & Rec Schools for a Master’s in Illinois ranking. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 38 masters’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern University are $56,567, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

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

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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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