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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Michigan

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Michigan

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

18 Colleges
$25,152 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$28,979 Avg Salary

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

Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #13 most popular major in Michigan with 2,279 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Michigan ranking. This report analyzed 18 schools in Michigan to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for parks and rec students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Michigan

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.

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found University of Michigan - Ann Arbor to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Michigan. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at U-M are $17,193 a year.

U-M also made our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Michigan list, coming in at #1.

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#2

Saginaw Valley State University

University Center, MI

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Saginaw Valley State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Michigan list. Located in the midsize suburb of University Center, Saginaw Valley State University is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Saginaw Valley State University are $11,130 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Grand Valley State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Michigan list. Located in the large suburb of Allendale, GVSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at GVSU are $13,900 per year.

GVSU also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Michigan list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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#4

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, MI

Out of the 18 schools in Michigan that were part of this year’s ranking, Central Michigan University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Central Michigan is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Central Michigan are $13,094 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Central Michigan University Report

#5

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Out of the 18 schools in Michigan that were part of this year’s ranking, Michigan State University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of East Lansing.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Michigan State are $15,966 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Michigan State is ranked #3 for overall quality for parks and rec in Michigan.

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Western Michigan University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. WMU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Kalamazoo.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at WMU are $13,434 a year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Western Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Eastern Michigan is a large public school located in the large suburb of Ypsilanti.

Eastern Michigan undergraduate students pay an average of $15,500 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

Northern Michigan University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the town of Marquette, Northern Michigan University is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

Northern Michigan University undergraduate students pay an average of $13,206 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

#9

Davenport University

Grand Rapids, MI

Davenport University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Davenport University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Grand Rapids.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Davenport University are $20,964 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Davenport University Report

#10

Wayne State University

Detroit, MI

Wayne State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Wayne State is a very large public school located in the city of Detroit.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Wayne State are $15,199 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Wayne State University Report

Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 1,818
Ohio 2,647
Illinois 2,396
Wisconsin 1,001

Parks & Rec Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 67,146
Recreation Administration 3,122
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 3,106
Outdoor Education 265
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 174

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 142,610
Public Administration & Social Service 98,583
Legal Professions 61,055
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 4,477

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 18 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NPS Photo/Zurbuch.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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