Aurora University Online Master of Science in Exercise Science

Aurora's online M.S. in Exercise Science is one of the few master's programs in our data that names the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) clinical exercise physiologist exam and builds a 3-credit internship into the degree. Tuition is $16,950 for 30 credits, and there's no GRE.

The catch is timing. It isn't on the CAAHEP list (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs), and that list starts to matter on August 15, 2027.

Aurora University is a private nonprofit in Aurora, Illinois, founded in 1893 as a seminary college. The online master's is run with Risepoint, an online program manager, though Aurora says it keeps responsibility for curriculum, admissions, tuition and accreditation. Across the whole university, federal data show 5,923 students and a 60 percent graduation rate.

The degree is 30 semester credits: an 18-credit core plus a 12-credit specialization. The online page shows only Clinical Exercise Physiology. The catalog says you choose that or Sports Performance.

Admission asks for a bachelor's in exercise science, kinesiology or a related area. Without that major, you need anatomy and physiology plus exercise physiology, and bridge courses exist. The catalog sets a 3.0 GPA, while the program page says lower GPAs get a case-by-case look. You'll also need a TB screen and a background check.

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

Courses run 8 to 16 weeks, and Aurora estimates one to two years to finish. The next start is October 26, 2026.

Aurora's online student page describes digital coursework in an asynchronous format, with live discussion over Zoom and virtual office hours. Its pages disagree on the learning platform. The program page says Brightspace, while the student experience page mentions Moodle.

The internship is the part you can't do from your couch. Plan on applying a term ahead and fitting supervised hours around your job. Aurora lists past internship and job sites, including Northwestern Medicine, IMG Academy and ATI Physical Therapy. Those show where students have landed. They aren't guaranteed placements.

Who It Fits

• Exercise professionals already working near patients. Aurora quotes a graduate who used a research methods course on the job with cardiac rehab patients, and the clinical track adds ECG interpretation and disease-specific exercise physiology. If your goal is the ACSM clinical exercise physiologist exam, the coursework was designed with it in mind.
• Strength coaches who want a graduate degree. If the Sports Performance specialization is offered online, it swaps the clinical courses for advanced strength and conditioning, program evaluation and biomechanics. Confirm the track is open to online students first.
• Military families. Active-duty members, spouses, dependents, Guard members and reservists receive a $250 per credit grant, and veterans receive a grant worth 10 percent of tuition.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who needs to know today that this degree meets the 2027 ACSM education rule. Nothing we found says Aurora holds CAAHEP accreditation or has started that process. Compare it against the clinical exercise physiology master's programs in our list.
• Students who can't line up an in-person internship. EXS 5400 has you working under a certified professional at a clinical or performance site, which is why we list this degree as online with an onsite requirement.
• Career changers who haven't taken physiology yet. Two prerequisites come before the graduate work.

The core opens with EXS 5010 Research Methods in Exercise and Sport, which trains you to read published research critically and present it in writing and out loud. EXS 5020 covers sports nutrition, EXS 5030 sport psychology and EXS 5040 management.

EXS 5100 Advanced Exercise Physiology looks at energy metabolism and the neuromuscular, cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Its companion, EXS 5110, is a 3-credit lab on testing body composition, strength, speed, power and balance. Ask how a lab runs online.

The clinical specialization adds EXS 5350 assessment and prescription following ACSM guidelines, EXS 5360 cardiovascular physiology with resting and exercise ECG interpretation, and EXS 5370, which covers cardiac, pulmonary and metabolic disease. Then comes the internship.

EXS 5400 is graded credit or no credit. It's a culminating project or extensive supervised work, and you must apply through the program coordinator one term ahead. Instructor permission is required.

Courses the School Names

• EXS 5010 Research Methods in Exercise and Sport
• EXS 5020 Nutrition for Sports Performance
• EXS 5030 Applied Sports and Exercise Psychology
• EXS 5040 Management in Exercise and Sport
• EXS 5100 Advanced Exercise Physiology
• EXS 5110 Advanced Exercise Physiology Lab
• EXS 5350 Advanced Exercise Assessment and Prescription
• EXS 5360 Advanced Cardiovascular Physiology and ECG Interpretation
• EXS 5370 Advanced Clinical Exercise Physiology
• EXS 5250 Advanced Methods of Strength and Conditioning

Standout Features

• Completing the Clinical Exercise Physiology specialization prepares graduates to sit for the ACSM CEP exam
• Two specializations: Clinical Exercise Physiology and Sports Performance (catalog); online page highlights only Clinical Exercise Physiology
• Internships completed at sites such as Northwestern Medicine, IMG Academy, San Francisco Giants and ATI Physical Therapy (student internship/employment list)
• Advanced Exercise Physiology Lab and ECG interpretation course in curriculum

Tuition is $565 per credit, so 30 credits comes to $16,950. Aurora's program page adds a $100 technology fee each semester, while the 2025-26 catalog lists $80 for online students. Budget for the higher figure until Aurora confirms.

You also pay for the TB test, the background check and any extra requirements at your internship site. The application is free.

With the $250 military grant, active-duty students, spouses, dependents, Guard members and reservists pay $315 per credit, or $9,450 over 30 credits. A veteran's 10 percent grant is $1,695, leaving $15,255. Transfer credit graded B or better is possible, though at least 25 percent of the credits must be earned at Aurora.

30 credits at $565 a credit comes to $16,950 in tuition, before fees.

Aurora is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accreditor. Programmatically, the page says only that the degree is recognized by NSCA. That isn't the newer CASCE accreditation NSCA now uses, and NSCA's 2030 rule concerns the bachelor's degree behind a CSCS anyway.

The clinical exercise physiologist route with a master's calls for 600 hours of hands-on clinical experience. EXS 5400 is 3 credits, so you'd want to know how many clinical hours it documents.

From August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program or one that has begun the process. Aurora doesn't appear on the CAAHEP list we pulled on September 29, 2026. Its page says the clinical coursework prepares you to sit for the exam, which doesn't answer the accreditation question.

Where this degree can lead: Exercise Physiologist Careers, ACSM Exercise Physiologist Certification.

• The online page says you can earn the general degree or add the clinical specialization, but the catalog requires one of two specializations. Only one of them appears on the online page.
• The technology fee is $100 per semester on the program page and $80 in the catalog.
• The internship is a required onsite piece, and Aurora doesn't describe how sites are arranged.
• The ACSM exam path after August 15, 2027 depends on accreditation status that Aurora hasn't published.

• Is the Sports Performance specialization available online, or only Clinical Exercise Physiology?
• How many clinical hours does EXS 5400 provide, and will Aurora document them in a form ACSM accepts toward the 600-hour master's route?
• Has the program applied for CAAHEP accreditation, and can you share the date?
• Does Aurora help students find internship sites near home, and what do site requirements add to the cost?
• Is the technology fee $100 or $80 per semester, and is the $565 rate locked for the whole degree?
• How does the EXS 5110 lab run online, and are there any required campus visits?
• How many starts are there each year?

Private nonprofit university in Aurora, Illinois founded in 1893 as a seminary college, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Its exercise science program pairs a campus lab with the university strength and conditioning department; the M.S. is offered online with Risepoint.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 12 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 12 of 99, master's
• Best Online Exercise Physiology Degrees Rank 2 of 19, master's
• Best Clinical Exercise Physiology Master's Rank 4 of 15, master's
• Accelerated Online Programs Rank 10 of 46, master's
• No-GRE Online Master's Programs Rank 9 of 44, master's
• Best for Military Students Rank 5 of 35, master's
• Best Certification-Ready Programs Rank 7 of 13, master's
• Best Online Programs in Illinois Rank 1 of 3, master's

Also at Aurora University, but not counted here because they are not fully online: Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science (Sports Performance, Clinical Exercise Physiology, Pre-Athletic Training emphases) (bachelor's, on campus).

• Pennsylvania Western University

  Exercise Science and Health Promotion, MS

  Pennsylvania $568 per credit Score 66.6

• Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

  Master of Science in Kinesiology (Sport and Exercise Science emphasis)

  Texas Score 66.6

• American Public University System

  Master of Science in Coaching and Athletic Development

  West Virginia $470 per credit Score 64.8

• Ouachita Baptist University

  Master of Science in Exercise Science (online)

  Arkansas $500 per credit Score 67.4