2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec
7
Ranked Colleges
1,114
Degrees Awarded
$25,900
Avg Cost*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec” ranking is part of that endeavor.
In 2020-2021, 73,813 people earned their degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the 15th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,423 and had an average of $24,388 in loans still to pay off.
Across Colorado, there were 1,114 parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,570 and $20,509 respectively.
For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs as well as strong veteran support.
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, veteran affordability, and veteran population. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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 “Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec”.
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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.
Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec
The colleges and universities below are the best for colorado vets studying parks & rec.
Top 7 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges for Veterans in Colorado
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado State University - Fort Collins. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec list. Colorado State is located in Fort Collins, Colorado and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 326 ’s parks and rec degrees to qualified students.
Colorado State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.According to our most recent data, Colorado State University - Fort Collins supports 32,428 students, and 1,606 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 1,183 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $10,701. In addition to receiving other benefits, 68 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Colorado State University - Fort Collins does offer credit for military training for eligible students.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at Colorado State]](/colleges/colorado-state-university-fort-collins/student-life/veterans/)
Out of the 7 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec that were part of this year’s ranking, Metropolitan State University of Denver landed the #2 spot on the list. MSU Denver is a fairly large school located in Denver, Colorado that handed out 127 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
MSU Denver also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 19,086 students enrolled at Metropolitan State University of Denver, 1,222 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 867 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $6,619. In addition to receiving other benefits, 7 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
Full MSU Denver Veteran Student Life Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Northern Colorado. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec list. Greeley, Colorado is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s parks and rec degrees to 202 students in 2020-2021.
University of Northern Colorado also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].According to our most recent data, University of Northern Colorado supports 11,460 students, and 1 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 0 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $0. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read More…
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Colorado Mesa University. The school came in at #4 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec. Located in Grand Junction, Colorado, this medium-sized public school handed out 151 diplomas to qualified ’s parks and rec students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our colorado vets studying parks & rec list, Colorado Mesa has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 439 of the 9,110 students enrolled at Colorado Mesa University were GI Bill® students, of which 196 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $4,707. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
Full Colorado Mesa Veteran Student Life Report
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 Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec. Adams State University is a small school located in Alamosa, Colorado that handed out 70 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
Adams State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.According to our most recent data, Adams State University supports 3,164 students, and 142 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 98 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $3,465. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Adams State University offers credit for military training for eligible students.
Full Adams State Veteran Student Life Report
Fort Lewis College ranked #6 on this year’s Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec list. This small school is located in Durango, Colorado, and it awarded 65 ’s parks and rec degrees in 2020-2021.
FLC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Among the 3,469 students enrolled at FLC, 101 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 53 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $4,268. In addition to receiving other benefits, 6 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
Full Fort Lewis College Veteran Student Life Report
Western Colorado University did quite well in the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Colorado for Parks & Rec ranking, coming in at #7. Western Colorado University is a public institution located in Gunnison, Colorado. The school has a small population, and it awarded 57 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Western, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 75 of the 3,203 students enrolled at Western Colorado University were GI Bill® students, of which 46 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $7,543. During this same period, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
Full Western Colorado University Veteran Student Life Report
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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).
- Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
- 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
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
- **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
- 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
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