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Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

6 Colleges
$24,298 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$23,329 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Undergraduate Certificate School for You

In 2020-2021, 73,813 people earned a degree or certificate in parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies, making the major the #15 most popular in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 6 schools in the United States to see which undergraduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for parks and rec students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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.

Best Schools for Affordable Quality for an Award Taking 1 to 4 Years in Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness

Our analysis found International Sports Sciences Association to be the best value school for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students who want to pursue a undergraduate certificate in the United States. ISSA is a small private for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of Carpinteria.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at ISSA are $10,107 a year.

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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 #2 on this year’s Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small city of Joplin, Missouri Southern is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Missouri Southern are $15,896 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Miami University - Oxford. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the fringe town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Miami University - Oxford are $36,288 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Miami University - Oxford also did well on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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The excellent undergraduate certificate programs at The University of Montana 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 United States. UM is a large public school located in the city of Missoula.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UM are $28,476 a year.

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#5

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, CO

The excellent undergraduate certificate programs at Colorado Mesa University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. Located in the small city of Grand Junction, Colorado Mesa is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Colorado Mesa undergraduate students pay an average of $22,322 in tuition and fees each year.

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With a ranking of #6, Southern California Health Institute did quite well on this year’s best value schools for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their undergraduate certificate. SOCHI is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Reseda.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern California Health Institute

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Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies by Region

View the Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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 6 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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