2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
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.
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 fringe 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.
In addition to its great value ranking, American Military University is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list.
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The excellent graduate certificate programs at Liberty University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southeast Region . Located in the small city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Liberty University graduate students pay an average of $8,360 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Citadel Military College of South Carolina. It ranked #3 on our 2023 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 average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at The Citadel are $18,540 a year.
The Citadel also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
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The excellent graduate certificate programs at Belhaven University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the Southeast Region . Belhaven is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Jackson.
Belhaven graduate students pay an average of $10,980 in tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Kentucky University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list. Located in the city of Bowling Green, WKU is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at WKU are $18,340 a year.
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With a ranking of #6, Shenandoah 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 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.
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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 city of Hattiesburg, Southern Miss is a public school with a large student population.
Southern Miss graduate students pay an average of $11,204 in tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #8, Clemson University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their graduate certificate. Clemson is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Clemson.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Clemson are $23,246 a 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.
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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 city of Raleigh.
Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NC State are $29,690 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, NC State is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Graduate Certificate Schools in the Southeast Region list.
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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 city of Greenville, ECU is a public college with a very large student population.
ECU graduate students pay an average of $20,743 in tuition and fees each 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.
Request InformationBest Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges by State
Explore the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools 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 |
More Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings in the Southeast Region
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Related Majors for Parks & Rec
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 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| 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.