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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

64 Colleges
$17,589 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 #15 most popular major in the country with 73,813 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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 Southwest Region ranking. This report analyzed 64 schools in the Southwest 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.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

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

Our 2023 rankings named Oklahoma Panhandle State University the best value school in the Southwest Region for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the rural area of Goodwell, OPSU is a public college with a small student population.

OPSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,234 in tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 64 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern Oklahoma State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the remote town of Alva, NWOSU is a public college with a small student population.

NWOSU undergraduate students pay an average of $15,001 in tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Texas A&M University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. West Texas A&M University is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Canyon.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at West Texas A&M University are $11,208 per year.

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Out of the 64 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Arizona State University - Skysong landed the # 4 spot on the list. ASU - Skysong is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Scottsdale.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at ASU - Skysong are $13,092 per year.

ASU - Skysong excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list.

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#5

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Grand Canyon University 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 Southwest Region . Located in the large city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Grand Canyon University undergraduate students pay an average of $17,189 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Grand Canyon University also is in the top 15% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking.

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Southwestern Oklahoma State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the remote town of Weatherford, SWOSU is a public college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SWOSU are $15,023 per year.

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#7

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX

With a ranking of #7, Tarleton State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Tarleton is a fairly large public school located in the remote town of Stephenville.

Tarleton undergraduate students pay an average of $17,582 in tuition and fees each year.

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#8

Cameron University

Lawton, OK

Cameron University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the city of Lawton, Cameron University is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Cameron University are $15,870 a year.

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With a ranking of #9, Sam Houston State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. SHSU is a very large public school located in the distant town of Huntsville.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SHSU are $18,752 per year.

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

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#10

MSU Texas

Wichita Falls, TX

MSU Texas ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list. MSU Texas is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Wichita Falls.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MSU Texas are $11,726 per year.

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Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great value schools for Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness students in the Southwest Region seeking value that almost earned our Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region award.

Rank College Location
11 University of Houston - Clear Lake Houston, TX
12 Southeastern Oklahoma State University Durant, OK

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 Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 1,071
Texas 7,380
New Mexico 141
Oklahoma 1,179

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 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.

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