American Public University System Online Master of Science in Sports and Health Sciences

American Public University's online M.S. in Sports and Health Sciences is an easy-to-enter master's for working adults. It's 36 credits at $470 each, starts every month, needs no entrance exam, and drops to $250 per credit for military families. But it ends in a research capstone, with no internship and no listed CAAHEP accreditation. Treat it as a performance and fitness master's, not a clinical route.

American Public University belongs to American Public University System, a for-profit, online-focused school headquartered in Charles Town, West Virginia. The Higher Learning Commission accredits the system. On August 4, 2026 it combined with Rasmussen University and Hondros College of Nursing. Despite the names of its schools, it isn't affiliated with American University or the U.S. military.

The master's is 36 semester credits: seven required core courses (21 credits), a 12-credit concentration, and a 3-credit capstone. Admission needs a bachelor's degree from a school whose accreditor is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). The program page lists no entrance exams and no application fee, and the school reviews your transfer credits at no cost.

The full rubric is on the methodology page. A factor marked Peer Median had no published input, so it counts at half weight.

Everything is online, and courses run 8 or 16 weeks, with a start every month. The next courses start October 5, and registration closes October 2. Every course on the school's calendar is offered as an 8-week session, and the capstone also runs 16 weeks, so you can take one course at a time and keep moving.

Tuition is due at registration. An Automatic Debit Plan spreads payment over the course, with two payments for an 8-week course. If you drop before or during week 1 of an 8-week course, you get a full refund.

Federal IPEDS data shows a 57% graduation rate for the institution as a whole, not for this degree.

Who It Fits

• Personal trainers and coaches who want a graduate degree without pausing their client list. Advanced Methods of Strength and Conditioning is in everyone's core. And the Exercise Science and Human Performance concentration includes a course the catalog says prepares you for the National Academy of Sports Medicine Performance Enhancement Specialist exam (NASM-PES).
• Military members, veterans and their families. The Preferred Military Rate is $250 per credit and covers active-duty servicemembers, Guard, Reserve, and their parents, spouses, legal partners, siblings and dependents. That puts tuition for all 36 credits at $9,000, before the per-course technology fee.
• Fitness professionals who train clients with chronic disease. The Exercise and Chronic Disease concentration adds two courses on musculoskeletal and physiological concerns, including type 2 diabetes. It teaches program design for those clients, not clinical care.
• Spanish speakers. The school says you can complete select courses in Spanish, beginning in the General Concentration, and most core courses carry that note.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if your goal is the ACSM clinical exercise physiologist credential. This degree isn't named or listed as clinical exercise physiology, it has no supervised clinical hours, and no CAAHEP accreditation appears on its pages.
• Skip it if you want practice with real clients under supervision. The program has no internship and no on-site requirement, so any hands-on assessment experience is something you'd arrange yourself.
• Skip it if you're thinking about a doctorate and want a thesis to show for it. The program lists a single research capstone and no thesis option.

The 21-credit core is SPHS501 Advanced Exercise and Sport Physiology, SPHS500 Statistics for Sports and Health Sciences, SPHS502 Motor Learning, SPHS503 Nutrition for Sports Performance, SPHS504 Advanced Methods of Strength and Conditioning, SPHS505 Sport Psychology, and SPHS511 Critical Thinking in the Sports and Health Industries.

SPHS501 comes first, and most later courses list it as a prerequisite. You choose one concentration. Exercise Science and Human Performance is SPHS506, SPHS507 Advanced Biomechanics, SPHS508, and SPHS509 Optimal Sports Performance. Exercise and Chronic Disease swaps in SPHS525 and SPHS535. Health and Wellness Management covers leadership, program design and behavior change coaching. General lets you pick any four.

The capstone, SPHS697, is a culminating research project. It can't start until every other course is finished and you hold a 3.0 GPA.

Courses the School Names

• SPHS501 Advanced Exercise and Sport Physiology
• SPHS502 Motor Learning
• SPHS503 Nutrition for Sports Performance
• SPHS504 Advanced Methods of Strength and Conditioning
• SPHS505 Sport Psychology
• SPHS507 Advanced Biomechanics
• SPHS525 Exercise for Chronic Disease: Musculoskeletal Concerns
• SPHS535 Exercise for Chronic Disease: Physiological Concerns
• SPHS509 Optimal Sports Performance

Standout Features

• Four concentrations, incl. Exercise and Chronic Disease and Exercise Science and Human Performance; Spanish-language option via General Concentration

Tuition is $470 per credit, so 36 credits is $16,920. Ebooks are free. But master's-level courses carry an $85 technology fee each, and the degree is 12 three-credit courses, so that's $1,020. Add the $350 graduation fee and the full bill is $18,290.

At the $250 military rate, tuition is $9,000 and the total with fees is $10,370. Veterans get a 15% grant that makes the rate $399.50, and any new student can get the Opportunity Grant at $423. Only one rate applies per course.

If you transfer the maximum 15 credits, you'd pay for 21 credits and 7 courses. That's $9,870 in tuition and $10,815 in all.

36 credits at $470 a credit comes to $16,920 in tuition, before fees.

The Higher Learning Commission is a regional accreditor, so the degree comes from an institutionally accredited school. But the program lists no programmatic accreditation, and it doesn't appear on our CAAHEP or CASCE lists.

That matters for two dates. From August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program or one that has started the process. From January 1, 2030, U.S. CSCS candidates need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program, which concerns the bachelor's degree behind the certification, not this master's.

The only exam prep the catalog names is NASM-PES, tied to SPHS509. Personal trainer certifications don't require a degree.

Where this degree can lead: Exercise Science Jobs.

• Fees add up. The $85 technology fee per course comes to $1,020 over 12 courses, and graduation is another $350. Ask for a full statement before you compare this to a flat-tuition school.
• Sequencing limits how fast you can go. SPHS501 is the first course, several later courses require it plus SPHS503, and SPHS535 requires SPHS525. You can't stack everything at once.
• Transfer is capped at 15 credits, and graduate credit must be within 10 calendar years of the evaluation date. Older coursework won't count.
• The capstone waits until all other courses are complete and your GPA is 3.0. A weak semester in the middle can delay graduation.

• Are courses fully asynchronous, or do any require live sessions, and how many days a week do weekly discussions take?
• Which concentration do most students in my goal (training, coaching, wellness management) choose, and who teaches those courses?
• Does the SPHS697 capstone need human subjects or IRB approval, and can I use my own workplace as the project setting?
• Which of my prior courses would count toward the 15-credit transfer limit, and can I get that evaluation in writing before I pay?
• Can you send me an itemized total that includes the technology fee for every course and the graduation fee?
• Does the SPHS509 course include the NASM-PES exam fee, or is the exam a separate purchase?
• If I'm eligible for the military rate, does it stay in place when I take an employer's tuition assistance?

Online-focused university system (American Public University and American Military University) headquartered in Charles Town, WV. On August 4, 2026 it combined with Rasmussen University and Hondros College of Nursing; it is not affiliated with American University or the U.S. military.

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