Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Parks, Recreation and Leisure Facilities Management

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$31,377

Avg. Earnings

7.7 yrs

Best Payback

4,399

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$43,957	7.7 yrs
2	University of North Texas Denton, TX · Public	$14,132	$37,808	20.1 yrs
3	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA · Public	$17,235	$37,363	29.2 yrs
4	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	$12,996	$36,368	38 yrs
5	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,251	$35,843	39.2 yrs
6	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$35,843	39.8 yrs
7	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH · Public	$20,896	$36,810	46.2 yrs
8	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA · Public	$19,223	$35,131	587 yrs
9	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$35,131	828.6 yrs
10	St. Joseph's University-New York Brooklyn, NY · Private	$13,223	$34,814	N/A
11	Johnson & Wales University-Providence Providence, RI · Private	$28,090	$34,153	N/A
12	Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte Charlotte, NC · Private	$26,572	$34,153	N/A
13	Illinois State University Normal, IL · Public	$19,293	$33,993	N/A
14	Minnesota State University-Mankato Mankato, MN · Public	$14,995	$34,420	N/A
15	Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN · Public	$13,140	$28,816	N/A
16	Kean University Union, NJ · Public	$20,486	$34,298	N/A
17	Southern Connecticut State University New Haven, CT · Public	$21,008	$34,420	N/A
18	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO · Public	$15,086	$31,133	N/A
19	Frostburg State University Frostburg, MD · Public	$17,733	$25,194	N/A
20	University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO · Public	$14,111	$33,565	N/A
21	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	$14,424	$31,133	N/A
22	The University of Montana Missoula, MT · Public	$15,281	$23,340	N/A
23	Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA · Public	$16,954	$28,753	N/A
24	Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA · Public	$12,224	$29,685	N/A
25	East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA · Public	$20,726	$31,935	N/A
26	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC · Public	$19,195	$29,685	N/A
27	University of West Georgia Carrollton, GA · Public	$18,026	$30,119	N/A
28	Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN · Public	$15,588	$31,495	N/A
29	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL · Public	$12,675	$32,391	N/A
30	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI · Public	$20,557	$23,113	N/A
31	Arkansas Tech University Russellville, AR · Public	$12,727	$28,960	N/A
32	Clemson University Clemson, SC · Public	$20,797	$29,829	N/A
33	Florida International University Miami, FL · Public	$7,292	$29,685	N/A
34	Northwest Missouri State University Maryville, MO · Public	$12,127	$31,236	N/A
35	South Dakota State University Brookings, SD · Public	$18,826	$33,755	N/A
36	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL · Public	$11,506	$33,637	N/A
37	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC · Public	$13,214	$29,141	N/A
38	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	$14,498	$31,828	N/A
39	Western Illinois University Macomb, IL · Public	$15,794	$27,978	N/A
40	University of Wisconsin-La Crosse La Crosse, WI · Public	$13,198	$34,298	N/A
41	Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA · Public	$19,050	$28,381	N/A
42	Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH · Public	$19,508	$27,295	N/A
43	Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY · Public	$17,490	$27,590	N/A
44	North Carolina Central University Durham, NC · Public	$17,208	$25,967	N/A
45	Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, ID · Private	$5,422	$25,194	N/A
46	Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, KY · Public	$14,287	$24,863	N/A
47	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC · Public	$14,701	$30,554	N/A
48	SUNY Brockport Brockport, NY · Public	$17,803	$33,077	N/A
49	Appalachian State University Boone, NC · Public	$13,769	$22,929	N/A
50	Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI · Public	$15,720	$34,420	N/A

Top Earners in Parks, Recreation and Leisure Facilities Management

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.