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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

22 Colleges
$12,729 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 #14 most popular major in California with 11,237 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

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 Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 22 schools in California 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master’s Degree Schools in California

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 California. Located in the city of Irvine, Concordia University, Irvine is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Concordia University, Irvine are $8,564 a year.

Concordia University, Irvine excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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

Out of the 22 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at CSULB are $8,280 a year.

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

The excellent master’s degree programs at San Jose State University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in California. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at San Jose State are $9,286 a year.

Read More…

Out of the 22 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - East Bay landed the # 4 spot on the list. Cal State East Bay is a large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State East Bay are $8,429 per year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $11,629 a 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 California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Sac State is a very large public school located in the city of Sacramento.

Sac State graduate students pay an average of $8,826 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

Point Loma Nazarene University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the city of San Diego, PLNU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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

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California State University - San Marcos ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSUSM is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Marcos.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSUSM are $9,161 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California State University - San Marcos Report

California State University - Northridge ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California list. CSUN is a very large public school located in the city of Northridge.

CSUN graduate students pay an average of $8,477 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at California State University - Northridge

#10

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

SFSU graduate students pay an average of $8,738 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
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 22 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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