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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

44 Colleges
$9,591 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$28,979 Avg Salary

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

In 2020-2021, 7,380 degrees and certificates were awarded to parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who went to a Texas college or university. This makes it the #14 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. 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.

The Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor's Degree Schools in Texas ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 44 schools in Texas 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. 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.

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

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for parks and rec majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.

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

Our 2023 rankings named University of Houston - Clear Lake the best value school in Texas for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Houston, UH Clear Lake is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

UH Clear Lake undergraduate students pay an average of $7,698 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UH Clear Lake excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Houston - Clear Lake Report

#2

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, TX

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Tarleton State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the town of Stephenville, Tarleton is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Tarleton are $7,790 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Sam Houston State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list. Located in the distant town of Huntsville, SHSU is a public school with a very large student population.

SHSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,960 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, SHSU is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list.

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

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means The University of Texas at Austin is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UT Austin are $11,752 per year.

UT Austin did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Texas at Austin

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at West Texas A&M 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 Texas. Located in the town of Canyon, West Texas A&M University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at West Texas A&M University are $9,202 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at West Texas A&M University Report

With a ranking of #6, Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their bachelor’s degree. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the city of College Station.

Texas A&M College Station undergraduate students pay an average of $12,204 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Texas A&M College Station is ranked #5 for overall quality for parks and rec in Texas.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas A&M University - College Station

Texas Woman’s University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. TWU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Denton.

TWU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,394 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Texas Woman’s University Report

#8

University of Houston

Houston, TX

University of Houston ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list. UH is a very large public school located in the city of Houston.

UH undergraduate students pay an average of $9,699 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UH also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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#9

Lamar University

Beaumont, TX

Lamar University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the midsize city of Beaumont, Lamar University is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lamar University are $8,690 per year.

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#10

Texas State University

San Marcos, TX

Texas State University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Texas list. Texas State is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Marcos.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Texas State are $11,135 a year.

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

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

State Degrees Awarded
Arizona 1,071
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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