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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.

2023 Best Value Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the United States

Check out the parks and rec undergraduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

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

Our 2023 rankings named International Sports Sciences Association the best value school in the United States for parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies students working on their undergraduate certificate. ISSA is a small private for-profit school located in the suburb of Carpinteria.

ISSA undergraduate students pay an average of $10,107 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at International Sports Sciences Association

Out of the 6 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Missouri Southern State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Joplin, Missouri Southern is a public school with a small student population.

Missouri Southern undergraduate students pay an average of $15,896 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

The excellent undergraduate certificate programs at Miami University - Oxford helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies schools in the United States. Located in the town of Oxford, Miami University - Oxford is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Miami University - Oxford are $36,288 per year.

Miami University - Oxford excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure & Fitness Undergraduate Certificate Schools list.

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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 small city of Missoula.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UM are $28,476 per year.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at The University of Montana Report

#5

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, CO

Out of the 6 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado Mesa University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Grand Junction, Colorado Mesa is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Colorado Mesa are $22,322 a year.

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

Southern California Health Institute landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value undergraduate certificate parks, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies programs. SOCHI is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of Reseda.

Full Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies at Southern California Health Institute Report

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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