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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

32 Colleges
$19,552 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,687 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master'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.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. This report analyzed 32 schools in the Far Western US Region to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for parks and rec students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master's Degree Colleges.

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

Our analysis found Concordia University, Irvine to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Far Western US Region . Concordia University, Irvine is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Irvine.

Concordia University, Irvine graduate students pay an average of $8,564 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Concordia University, Irvine also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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

The excellent master’s degree programs at Point Loma Nazarene 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 Far Western US Region . PLNU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Diego.

PLNU graduate students pay an average of $11,880 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#3

Seattle University

Seattle, WA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Seattle University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Located in the large city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Seattle U graduate students pay an average of $14,310 in tuition and fees each year.

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

#4

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Gonzaga 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 Far Western US Region . Located in the city of Spokane, Gonzaga is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

Gonzaga graduate students pay an average of $14,878 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Gonzaga also is in the top 15% of our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking.

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Out of the 32 schools in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, California Baptist University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Cal Baptist is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Riverside.

Cal Baptist graduate students pay an average of $14,320 in tuition and fees each year.

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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate students pay an average of $21,133 in tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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#7

National University

La Jolla, CA

National University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of La Jolla, National University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at National University are $15,480 a year.

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

California State University - Long Beach ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at CSULB are $17,784 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California State University - Long Beach Report

San Jose 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 master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at San Jose State are $18,790 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, San Jose State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list.

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With a ranking of #10, California State University - East Bay did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Hayward, Cal State East Bay is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Cal State East Bay are $17,933 a year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California State University - East Bay Report

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 Far Western US region.

State Degrees Awarded
California 11,237
Washington 673
Oregon 629
Hawaii 171
Nevada 273
Alaska 35

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

Majors Similar to Parks & Rec

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 26 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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