Bryan University Online Associate of Arts in Applied Exercise and Fitness

Bryan's online Associate of Arts in Applied Exercise and Fitness is a personal training and group fitness degree, not a science degree. You get NASM-aligned coursework (NASM is the National Academy of Sports Medicine), a fitness kit shipped to your door, e-books included and one certification attempt paid for. You also pay about $32,325 for 60 credits.

Choose it if you want a guided path into gym and studio work. Skip it if you're comparing per-credit prices.

Bryan University is an online-first, for-profit school headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, with a branch campus in Toronto. It's accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Federal data for the school show 2,519 students and a 41 percent graduation rate.

The degree is 60 credits over 20 months, taken two 8-week courses at a time. Fifteen core courses (45 credits) cover personal training, group exercise and running a small fitness business. Five general education courses (15 credits) cover communication, critical thinking, English, algebra and psychology.

Admission asks for a high school diploma or equivalent, a $25 registration fee, a computer and internet speed check, and an online course called LaunchPad plus an orientation.

Everything is online. You do weekly homework when it suits you, and Bryan runs optional live classes and monthly industry webinars over Zoom. Sessions are recorded, and tutors are available on request. Some assignments are skill demonstrations you record on a mobile-compatible video platform, such as role-playing a client consultation.

Because you take two courses at a time for eight weeks, the pace is steady. There's little slack in 20 months, so plan your work schedule around it.

Bryan assigns a personal success coach and a career services advisor. The program director, Dr. Justin Harper, says the goal is graduates who can walk into an employer, gather a group and train them.

Who It Fits

• New trainers who'd rather be guided than study alone. The associate degree takes the personal training certificate coursework and adds group training theory, applied group training and weight management, so you practice class design, cueing and progression, not just facts for an exam.
• Working adults who need a flexible pace. Homework is due weekly at times you choose, live classes and events on Zoom are optional, and sessions are recorded. Bryan also lets you resubmit homework to raise your grade.
• People who expect to earn a bachelor's later. Bryan says all credits from its personal trainer certificate and this associate degree transfer into its bachelor's, which we review in the Bryan bachelor's completion program.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants a science foundation for physical therapy, athletic training or clinical exercise physiology. The body science courses are kinesiology and body-systems basics, with no exercise physiology, chemistry or lab sciences. A Texas community college route like Blinn's online kinesiology associate degree is closer to that goal.
• Budget shoppers. Divide $32,325 by 60 credits and you're at about $539 per credit. Our cheapest online exercise science degrees list has lower prices.
• People who only want a trainer certification. NASM says no college degree is required to begin its personal trainer program, and its self-paced course was listed at $47 a month when we checked.

The personal training track runs through PTD courses. PTD-100 Personal Training and Sales Fundamentals covers communication, the steps of a sale and ethics. PTD-101 and PTD-102 Body Sciences cover planes of motion, joint actions and the nervous, muscular and skeletal systems. PTD-103 Client Intake and Assessment teaches health screenings, risk stratification and tests such as body fat and cardiovascular condition.

PTD-104 and PTD-105 Programming Basics build resistance, cardio and flexibility programs, then advanced programs and special populations. PTD-106 is nutrition, PTD-107 behavior management and PTD-110 an exam and career prep course aimed at the NASM exam.

The EXE courses are where the degree separates from the certificate. EXE-200 Fitness Management covers running a small fitness business. EXE-205 and EXE-210 teach group training, EXE-215 Weight Management practices calorie balancing, and EXE-220 covers cardiorespiratory and flexibility programming.

Courses the School Names

• Fitness Management
• Group Training Theory
• Applied Group Training
• Weight Management
• Cardiorespiratory and Flexibility Programming
• Personal Training and Sales Fundamentals
• Body Sciences I
• Client Intake and Assessment
• Behavior Management
• Nutrition Fundamentals

Standout Features

• Fitness kit (NOSSK Lite Trainer, resistance bands, body tape, skinfold caliper) shipped to home at no extra cost
• Aligned with NASM competencies; students record skill demonstrations via a mobile-compatible video platform
• All PTUC and AFIT credits transfer fully into the bachelor's degree

Bryan charges by academic year, not per credit: $14,925 for year one, $14,900 for year two and $2,500 for a partial third year. That's $7,450 per term in the first two years. The catalog puts the total at about $32,325, including a $25 registration fee, and books and courseware are included. Your rate is locked in when you enroll.

The fitness kit ships at no extra cost. It holds a NOSSK Lite Trainer, resistance bands, a body measuring tape and a skinfold caliper.

If you repeat classes and run past the normal timeframe, Bryan charges pro rata, up to $3,200 per semester. Bryan lists a $25 re-entry fee.

The bachelor's completion program adds about $13,550, so the whole ladder from the associate comes to $45,875.

60 credits at $538.75 a credit comes to $32,325 in tuition, before fees.

NWCCU is a regional accreditor, and Bryan says it holds a seven-year grant that covers all its programs. There's no programmatic accreditation for exercise science here.

The credential is the certification. The catalog says one attempt at the NASM Certified Group Exercise Instructor exam is included in tuition, though a passing score isn't required to graduate. The program page also mentions preparation for NASM and ACSM group exercise certifications. The NASM Certified Personal Trainer attempt is listed under the certificate rung, so ask whether it comes with the associate.

An associate degree can't qualify you for the ACSM exercise physiologist exam or the NSCA CSCS. Both require a bachelor's degree, and both are tied to accredited programs on the timelines of August 15, 2027 and January 1, 2030. Bryan isn't on those accreditation lists.

Where this degree can lead: Exercise Science Jobs.

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

• It costs about $539 per credit, and community colleges charge a small fraction of that for transfer degrees.
• It's an applied fitness degree with no biology, chemistry or exercise physiology, so the credits may not fill prerequisites elsewhere.
• Repeating a class can add up to $3,200 per semester in pro rata tuition.
• Bryan's federal graduation rate is 41 percent and covers the whole school, not this program.
• Bryan is for-profit, and each receiving school decides which credits it accepts.

• Is the NASM Certified Personal Trainer exam attempt included when I enroll directly in the associate degree, or only with the certificate?
• Will my prior college credits shorten the 20 months, and how does that change the tuition of $14,925, $14,900 and $2,500?
• Which four-year schools have accepted Bryan credits, and have any turned them down?
• Are the live sessions ever required for a grade, and what times are they scheduled?
• Is this program approved for GI Bill benefits by the Arizona State Approving Agency?
• What does Bryan charge if I take a term off, and what does the $25 re-entry fee cover?

Bryan University is an online-first private for-profit university headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, with a Toronto branch campus, and its exercise programs are built around NASM-aligned personal training and fitness coaching. Its stackable ladder runs from a personal trainer certificate to an associate degree to a bachelor's completion degree.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 7 of 11, associate
• Best Online Associate Programs Rank 7 of 11, associate
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• Best for Working Adults Rank 6 of 8, associate
• Best for Parents Rank 3 of 3, associate
• Best for Personal Trainers Rank 5 of 7, associate
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 7 of 11, associate
• Best Online Programs in Arizona Rank 1 of 2, associate

• Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, Fitness, and Nutrition Management (Completion Degree)

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• Georgia Military College

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• Eastern Iowa Community College District

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