Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

16 Colleges
$20,084 Avg Tuition & Fees*

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Graduate Certificate 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.

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 Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. This report analyzed 16 schools in the Southeast Region to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate 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.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region

Check out the parks and rec graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Graduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found American Public University System to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in the Southeast Region . Located in the town of Charles Town, American Military University is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at American Military University are $7,050 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, American Military University also is in the top 10% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at American Public University System

#2

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Liberty University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the small city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 a year.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Citadel Military College of South Carolina. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Charleston, The Citadel is a public college with a small student population.

The Citadel graduate students pay an average of $18,540 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, The Citadel also is in the top 20% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Citadel Military College of South Carolina

#4

Belhaven University

Jackson, MS

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Belhaven University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Belhaven is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Jackson.

Belhaven graduate students pay an average of $10,980 in tuition and fees each year.

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

#5

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, KY

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Western Kentucky 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 Southeast Region . Located in the city of Bowling Green, WKU is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WKU are $18,340 a year.

Read More…

#6

Shenandoah University

Winchester, VA

Shenandoah University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the small city of Winchester, Shenandoah is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Shenandoah graduate students pay an average of $23,430 in tuition and fees each year.

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

University of Southern Mississippi came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. Located in the small city of Hattiesburg, Southern Miss is a public college 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

#8

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. 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.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Clemson also is in the top 10% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region ranking.

Read More…

North Carolina State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 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.

NC State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list.

Read More…

#10

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

With a ranking of #10, East Carolina University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of Greenville, ECU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at ECU are $20,743 a year.

ECU excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list.

Read More…

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 16 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.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.