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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

19 Colleges
$26,283 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$69,500 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Doctor'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. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 19 schools in the Southeast Region to see which doctor'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.

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 Doctor's Degree Schools

#1

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Our analysis found Clemson University to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in the Southeast Region . Clemson is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Clemson.

Clemson graduate students pay an average of $23,246 in tuition and fees each year.

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

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend United States Sports Academy. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. The Academy is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Daphne.

The Academy graduate students pay an average of $19,440 in tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 19 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern Mississippi landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Hattiesburg, Southern Miss is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Southern Miss graduate students pay an average of $11,204 in tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 19 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, North Carolina State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. NC State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Raleigh.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NC State are $29,690 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, NC State also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at North Carolina State University

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#5

Troy University

Troy, AL

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Troy University is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the remote town of Troy, TROY is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at TROY are $17,100 a year.

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With a ranking of #6, University of South Carolina - Columbia did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Columbia, UofSC is a public school with a very large student population.

UofSC graduate students pay an average of $30,160 in tuition and fees each year.

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#7

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, AR

University of Arkansas did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the small city of Fayetteville, UARK is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UARK are $22,563 per year.

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University of North Carolina at Greensboro came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. UNC Greensboro is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Greensboro.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UNC Greensboro are $21,983 a year.

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#9

University of Georgia

Athens, GA

University of Georgia landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the city of Athens, UGA is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UGA are $27,464 a year.

UGA excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list.

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#10

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

Florida State University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the midsize city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public school with a very large student population.

Florida State graduate students pay an average of $26,707 in tuition and fees each year.

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Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
North Carolina 3,436
West Virginia 1,238
Mississippi 1,128
South Carolina 1,339
Florida 2,340
Virginia 1,729
Arkansas 1,012
Alabama 959
Kentucky 1,141
Georgia 1,981
Tennessee 2,462
Louisiana 703

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 19 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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