2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree School for You
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #15 most popular major in the country with 73,813 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.
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 the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. This report analyzed 66 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region 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. 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.
Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools
Our analysis found Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the Middle Atlantic Region . SRU is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Slippery Rock.
SRU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,615 in tuition and fees each year.
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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at California University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Middle Atlantic Region . Cal U is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of California.
Cal U undergraduate students pay an average of $15,726 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Kutztown University is a medium-sized public school located in the fringe town of Kutztown.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kutztown University are $15,170 per year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Edinboro is a small public school located in the town of Edinboro.
Edinboro undergraduate students pay an average of $15,062 in tuition and fees each year.
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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Farmingdale State College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Middle Atlantic Region . SUNY College of Technology at Farmingdale is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Farmingdale.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SUNY College of Technology at Farmingdale are $18,486 a year.
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Salisbury 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. Salisbury is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Salisbury.
Salisbury undergraduate students pay an average of $20,458 in tuition and fees each year.
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Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania 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 #7 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Shippensburg, Ship is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Ship are $14,122 per year.
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Kean University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Kean is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Union.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kean are $19,771 per year.
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SUNY Cortland 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 #9 on the list. Located in the distant town of Cortland, SUNY Cortland is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
SUNY Cortland undergraduate students pay an average of $18,725 in tuition and fees each year.
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Lock Haven University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Located in the distant town of Lock Haven, LHU is a public school with a small student population.
LHU undergraduate students pay an average of $20,702 in tuition and fees each year.
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These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | The College at Brockport | Brockport, NY |
| 12 | York College of Pennsylvania | York, PA |
| 13 | West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester, PA |
Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State
Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| New Jersey | 1,047 |
| Pennsylvania | 2,734 |
| New York | 2,477 |
| Maryland | 832 |
| Delaware | 342 |
| District of Columbia | 319 |
More Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings in the Middle Atlantic Region
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Related Majors for Parks & Rec
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 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Parks & Rec
| 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 25 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.