2021 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Non-Traditional Students in the Great Lakes Region
69Colleges
7,934Bachelor's Degrees
$28,454Avg Cost*
Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools for Non-Traditional Students
This year's Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Non-Traditional Students in the Great Lakes Region ranking looked at 69 colleges that offer a bachelor's in parks & rec. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies programs as well as strong support for students classified as non-traditional.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies program at the school, affordability, and non-traditional population. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
More Ways to Rank Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools
As a non-traditional student, you have a lot to consider when it comes to choosing an education. That's why we've developed rankings specifically for you. Check out more major-related rankings here..
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.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
2021 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools for Non-Traditional Students in the Great Lakes Region
The following schools top our list of the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Non-Traditional Students.
Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools for Non-Traditional Students
Illinois State University tops the 2021 list of our schools in the Great Lakes Region that are best for non-traditional parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies students. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population. Illinois State also made our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #3.
The student loan default rate at Illinois State is lower than is typical, just 1.7% of students default in three years. There are approximately 7,464 students at Illinois State that take at least one class online. There are roughly 2,500 part time students in attendance at Illinois State.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign comes in at #2 in this year's ranking. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign. UIUC also made our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #1.
The student loan default rate at UIUC is lower than is typical, just 0.6% of students default in three years. Approximately 35,475 students take at least one class online at UIUC. About 10,007 of the students at UIUC are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize Indiana University - Bloomington as the #3 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public college with a fairly large student population. IU Bloomington not only placed well in our non-traditional rankings. It is also #2 on our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.4%. Approximately 18,013 students take at least one class online at IU Bloomington. About 5,256 of the students at IU Bloomington are attending part time.
Michigan State University landed the #4 spot in our 2021 best parks, recreation, leisure, & fitness studies schools for non-traditional students. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public school with a very large student population. Michigan State also made our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #4.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.8%. Approximately 33,526 students take at least one class online at Michigan State. 6,517 students are part time.
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse comes in at #5 in this year's ranking. Located in the small city of La Crosse, UW - La Crosse is a public school with a fairly large student population. UW - La Crosse also made our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region list, coming in at #6.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. Approximately 4,162 students take at least one class online at UW - La Crosse. 1,125 of UW - La Crosse students are attending part time.
Western Illinois University comes in at #6 in this year's ranking. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Macomb. WIU also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region list. It's in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
The student loan default rate at WIU is lower than is typical, just 3.2% of students default in three years. There are approximately 4,203 students at WIU that take at least one class online. 1,874 of WIU students are attending part time.
Eastern Illinois University earned the #7 spot in our 2021 rankings. EIU is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Charleston. EIU also took the #9 spot in our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region rankings.
About 2.4% of EIU students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 2,449 students take at least one class online at EIU. 3,894 students are part time.
The #8 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Indiana State University. Located in the small city of Terre Haute, Indiana State is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
The student loan default rate at Indiana State is lower than is typical, just 3.6% of students default in three years. There are approximately 2,947 students at Indiana State that take at least one class online. There are roughly 2,349 part time students in attendance at Indiana State.
Our rankings recognize University of Michigan - Ann Arbor as the #9 school in this year's rankings. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor. U-M did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region list.
The student loan default rate at U-M is lower than is typical, just 0.2% of students default in three years. Approximately 15,737 students take at least one class online at U-M. 3,568 of U-M students are attending part time.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale earned the #10 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a large student population. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, SIUC also is in the top 20% of our Best Colleges for Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies in the Great Lakes Region ranking.
About 2.4% of SIUC students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 2,640 students take at least one class online at SIUC. There are roughly 2,629 part time students in attendance at SIUC.
Here are some additional great schools for Great Lakes Region non-traditional students studying Parks & Rec that almost earned our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Non-Traditional Students in the Great Lakes Region award.
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 the rest 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).
