Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

8 Colleges
$27,900 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$31,256 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree School for You

Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies is the #169 most popular major in the country with 3,106 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 8 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for parks and rec students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the parks and rec bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best Great Lakes Region Schools for Affordable Quality for a Bachelor's in Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies

Our analysis found Ohio University - Athens Campus to be the best value school for parks, recreation and leisure studies students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . OHIO Athens is a very large public school located in the distant town of Athens.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at OHIO Athens are $22,810 a year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, parks and rec graduates from OHIO Athens carry an average student debtload of $23,277.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Ohio University - Athens Campus Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

SIUC undergraduate students pay an average of $15,240 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Bowling Green State University - Main Campus helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation and leisure studies schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the fringe town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

BGSU undergraduate students pay an average of $21,050 in tuition and fees each year. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $513, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Bowling Green State University - Main Campus

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

UIUC undergraduate students pay an average of $37,632 in tuition and fees each year. On average, parks and rec graduates from UIUC take out $19,274 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $226, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

UIUC also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Indiana University - Bloomington is a great value for parks, recreation and leisure studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at IU Bloomington are $38,352 per year. While working on their Bachelor's Degree, parks and rec majors at IU Bloomington accumulate an average of around $18,947 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $478, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

In addition to its great value ranking, IU Bloomington is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

#6

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree parks, recreation and leisure studies programs. Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Aurora are $26,760 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Aurora University Report

Northern Michigan University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree parks, recreation and leisure studies programs. Northern Michigan University is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Marquette.

Northern Michigan University undergraduate students pay an average of $18,828 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Northern Michigan University Report

#8

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

With a ranking of #8, Olivet Nazarene University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation and leisure studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Bourbonnais.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Olivet Nazarene are $37,440 per year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies at Olivet Nazarene University

Best Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies Colleges by State

Explore the best parks, recreation and leisure studies colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 16
Ohio 101
Illinois 196
Indiana 161

One of 4 majors within the area of study, parks, recreation and leisure studies has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 67,146
Recreation Administration 3,122
Outdoor Education 265
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 174

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 8 schools only.

  • 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.