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

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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.

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

Check out the parks and rec doctor'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 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 suburb of Clemson.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Clemson are $23,246 per year.

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

Read More…

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 city of Daphne.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at The Academy are $19,440 per year.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Southern Mississippi is a great value for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the small city of Hattiesburg, Southern Miss is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Southern Miss are $11,204 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Southern Mississippi Report

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.

NC State graduate students pay an average of $29,690 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, NC State also is in the top 10% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

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

#5

Troy University

Troy, AL

Out of the 19 schools in the Southeast Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Troy University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the remote town of Troy, TROY is a public school with a fairly large student population.

TROY graduate students pay an average of $17,100 in tuition and fees each year.

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

University of South Carolina - Columbia ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Columbia, UofSC is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UofSC are $30,160 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of South Carolina - Columbia Report

#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 city of Fayetteville, UARK is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UARK are $22,563 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Arkansas Report

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

UNC Greensboro graduate students pay an average of $21,983 in tuition and fees each year.

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

#9

University of Georgia

Athens, GA

University of Georgia came in at #9 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 Athens, UGA is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UGA are $27,464 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UGA also is in the top 15% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Doctor’s Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at University of Georgia Report

#10

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

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

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Florida State are $26,707 per year.

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

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
South Carolina 1,339
Florida 2,340
Virginia 1,729
Arkansas 1,012
Mississippi 1,128
Louisiana 703
Alabama 959
Kentucky 1,141
Georgia 1,981
Tennessee 2,462

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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