Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

13 Colleges
$20,274 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$31,213 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Recreation Administration School for You

Recreation Administration is the #163 most popular major in the country with 3,122 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 13 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for recreation admin 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. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Recreation Administration Colleges.

Top 10 Best Recreation Administration Schools

#1

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL
$14,551 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Eastern Illinois University to be the best value school for recreation administration students who want to pursue a degree in the Great Lakes Region . EIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Charleston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at EIU are $14,551 per year. The average amount in student loans that recreation admin majors at EIU take out is $25,863.

Full Recreation Administration at Eastern Illinois University Report

$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

WIU undergraduate students pay an average of $13,297 in tuition and fees each year. Recreation Admin majors at WIU take out an average of $29,000 in student loans while working on their egree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $375.

Read full report on Recreation Administration at Western Illinois University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of La Crosse, UW - La Crosse is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UW - La Crosse are $18,014 per year. After completing their degree, recreation admin graduates from UW - La Crosse carry an average student debtload of $24,414.

In addition to its great value ranking, UW - La Crosse is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Recreation Administration at University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Illinois State are $24,172 per year. The average amount in student loans that recreation admin majors at Illinois State take out is $22,500. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $204, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Illinois State also claimed a spot on our Best Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Recreation Administration at Illinois State University

#5

Central Michigan University

Mount Pleasant, MI
$13,094 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Central Michigan University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the distant town of Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Central Michigan undergraduate students pay an average of $13,094 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

$16,768 Average Tuition & Fees

Western Michigan University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at WMU are $16,768 a year.

Read More…

#7

Indiana State University

Terre Haute, IN
$20,862 Average Tuition & Fees

Indiana State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the small city of Terre Haute, Indiana State is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Indiana State are $20,862 per year. While working on their degree, recreation admin majors at Indiana State accumulate an average of around $26,000 in student debt. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $269.

Read full report on Recreation Administration at Indiana State University

$19,876 Average Tuition & Fees

Kent State University at Kent landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value recreation administration programs. Located in the suburb of Kent, Kent State is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Kent State are $19,876 a year. On average, recreation admin graduates from Kent State take out $26,000 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Recreation Administration at Kent State University at Kent

#9

Ball State University

Muncie, IN

Ball State University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Recreation Administration Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Ball State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Muncie.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Ball State are $27,524 a year.

Read full report on Recreation Administration at Ball State University

$35,366 Average Tuition & Fees

Baldwin Wallace University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value recreation administration programs. Located in the large suburb of Berea, Baldwin Wallace College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Baldwin Wallace College are $35,366 per year.

Read full report on Recreation Administration at Baldwin Wallace University

Best Recreation Administration Colleges by State

Explore the best recreation administration schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 48
Ohio 15
Illinois 186
Indiana 88
Wisconsin 53

More Recreation Administration Rankings in the Great Lakes Region

One of 4 majors within the area of study, recreation administration has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Physical Education 67,146
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 3,106
Outdoor Education 265
Other Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 174

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 13 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 Glen Santy.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.