2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Missouri
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies School for You
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies is the #15 most popular major in Missouri with 1,342 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
The Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Missouri ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 12 schools in Missouri to see which ones offered the best value programs for parks and rec students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools
Our analysis found Missouri Western State University to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a degree in Missouri. Missouri Western is a small public school located in the city of Saint Joseph.
Missouri Western undergraduate students pay an average of $7,930 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Parks & Rec majors at Missouri Western take out an average of $26,214 in student loans while working on their egree.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwest Missouri State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Missouri list. Northwest is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Maryville.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northwest are $8,852 per year. The average amount in student loans that parks and rec majors at Northwest take out is $25,421. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $218.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Missouri Southern State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Missouri list. Missouri Southern is a small public school located in the small city of Joplin.
Missouri Southern undergraduate students pay an average of $7,762 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Parks & Rec majors at Missouri Southern take out an average of $21,300 in student loans while working on their egree.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Missouri State University - Springfield. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Missouri list. Missouri State is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Springfield.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Missouri State are $8,294 a year. Parks & Rec majors at Missouri State take out an average of $23,293 in student loans while working on their egree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $107, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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The excellent programs at Southeast Missouri State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in Missouri. Southeast Missouri State University is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Cape Girardeau.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Southeast Missouri State University are $8,715 per year. On average, parks and rec graduates from Southeast Missouri State University take out $21,849 in student loans while working on their degree.
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With a ranking of #6, University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Mizzou is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Columbia.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Mizzou are $11,475 per year. After completing their degree, parks and rec graduates from Mizzou carry an average student debtload of $25,000. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $277, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
Mizzou also took the #2 spot in our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Missouri rankings.
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With a ranking of #7, University of Central Missouri did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Located in the town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public college with a large student population.
UCM undergraduate students pay an average of $9,078 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, parks and rec graduates from UCM take out $25,041 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Maryville University of Saint Louis landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Maryville U is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Maryville U are $27,166 per year. Parks & Rec majors at Maryville U take out an average of $21,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
Maryville U also claimed a spot on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Schools in Missouri list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
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Lindenwood University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. Lindenwood University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Saint Charles.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lindenwood University are $18,640 per year. The average amount in student loans that parks and rec majors at Lindenwood University take out is $28,875. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $210, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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With a ranking of #10, Missouri Baptist University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students. Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, MBU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MBU are $30,548 per year. After completing their degree, parks and rec graduates from MBU carry an average student debtload of $27,000.
Request InformationBest Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Plains States Region
Explore all the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Kansas | 710 |
| Minnesota | 1,139 |
| Iowa | 1,491 |
| South Dakota | 342 |
| Nebraska | 429 |
| North Dakota | 266 |
More Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Rankings in Missouri
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 Majors Related 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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