2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master's Degree Schools in Illinois
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master's Degree School for You
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #17 most popular major in Illinois with 2,396 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. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.
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 Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 12 schools in Illinois 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.
Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Master's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Concordia University, Chicago the best value school in Illinois for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. Concordia University, Chicago is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.
Concordia University, Chicago graduate students pay an average of $9,378 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.
Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $9,773 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Illinois State is ranked #5 for overall quality for parks and rec in Illinois.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIUC are $17,823 per year.
UIUC also took the #3 spot in our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SIUE are $9,316 a year.
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Out of the 12 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the # 5 spot on the list. NIU is a large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.
NIU graduate students pay an average of $11,390 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Eastern Illinois University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the distant town of Charleston, EIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
EIU graduate students pay an average of $10,640 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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With a ranking of #7, North Central College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. North Central is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Naperville.
North Central graduate students pay an average of $15,822 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Aurora University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Aurora is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Aurora.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Aurora are $14,100 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Aurora also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Western Illinois University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Located in the town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at WIU are $12,182 a year.
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With a ranking of #10, University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their master’s degree. UIC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Chicago.
UIC graduate students pay an average of $17,277 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Request InformationBest Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
Explore all the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Indiana | 1,818 |
| Michigan | 2,279 |
| Ohio | 2,647 |
| Wisconsin | 1,001 |
More Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings in Illinois
Majors Related to 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 |
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 12 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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