Canisius University Online Master of Science in Exercise Science

Canisius's online M.S. in Exercise Science suits you if you want clinical exercise testing and sports performance in one degree. You take 11 three-credit courses at $945 per credit, prepare for four NASM specialty exams and the CSCS, and choose between a 120-hour internship and a research project. Mandatory fees add a couple thousand dollars, and the program lists no CAAHEP accreditation.

Canisius University is a Jesuit university founded in 1870 in Buffalo, New York, and it's accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. This master's used to be called Health and Human Performance. It sits in the School of Education and Leadership Studies, and the program director is Karl Kozlowski, a PhD and Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Canisius describes the training as exercise as medicine, with an emphasis on clinical exercise science, health behaviors, pre-habilitation and strength and conditioning. Admission asks for a bachelor's degree with at least a 2.70 GPA, two recommendation letters, a statement of purpose and college coursework in anatomy and physiology and exercise physiology. Applications are rolling, and the online application has no fee.

Canisius's regional accreditor is the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The program lists no CAAHEP accreditation, and it doesn't appear on the CAAHEP list we pulled on September 29, 2026.

From August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program or one that has started the process. The NSCA rule starting January 1, 2030 concerns the bachelor's degree behind your CSCS, not this master's.

The courses prepare you to sit the NASM PES, CES, Behavior Change Specialist and Certified Sports Nutrition Coach exams and the NSCA CSCS. They don't award those credentials, so budget separately for each exam.

Where this degree can lead: Exercise Science Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Aspiring strength coaches and trainers. KIN 502 prepares you for the NASM Performance Enhancement Specialization and KIN 506 for the Corrective Exercise Specialization, and other coursework points at the CSCS. Canisius's alumni list includes a sport scientist for an NHL team and a strength coach at the UFC Performance Institute.
• People who lean clinical. The required courses include Electrocardiography and Clinical Stress Testing and Clinical Exercise Science, and the alumni list includes an exercise physiologist at a hospital and a cardiovascular technologist. Canisius also says students have used the degree to prepare for PA, occupational therapy, physical therapy and medical school.
• Working adults who can line up their own internship. Sites don't have to be in Western New York, you can study full-time or part-time, and you can start in fall, spring or summer.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who needs a CAAHEP-accredited master's for the ACSM clinical exercise physiologist exam. Canisius lists none, so start with our online clinical exercise physiology master's.
• Students who haven't taken anatomy and physiology and exercise physiology. Canisius says you may have to complete extra undergraduate coursework first, and KIN 602 lists an anatomy and physiology course as a prerequisite.
• Anyone comparing on price alone. At $945 per credit plus fees, this costs more than many programs on our online master's in exercise science list.

All 11 courses are three credits. The performance side is KIN 502 Essentials of Performance Enhancement, which covers plyometric and speed training for sport-specific clients, KIN 506 Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training and KIN 583 Advanced Movement Analysis, where you learn functional movement screens.

The clinical side is KIN 565 Electrocardiography and Clinical Stress Testing, which covers 12-lead ECG reading, ischemia and infarction, and KIN 602 Clinical Exercise Science on cardiovascular and respiratory disease and exercise as therapy.

Behavior and nutrition come through KIN 507 Clinical Health Behavior Change, which includes motivational interviewing, KIN 522 Exercise Psychology and KIN 622 Sports and Fitness Nutrition. KIN 615 Statistics and KIN 680 Research Methods build the research skills. You finish with KIN 603 Internship I or KIN 689 Master's Project.

Courses the School Names

• Essentials of Performance Enhancement
• Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training
• Clinical Health Behavior Change
• Exercise Psychology
• Electrocardiography and Clinical Stress Testing
• Advanced Movement Analysis
• Clinical Exercise Science
• Statistics in Exercise Science
• Sports and Fitness Nutrition
• Research Methods in Exercise Science

Standout Features

• Coursework in Electrocardiography and Clinical Stress Testing plus Clinical Exercise Science
• Exercise-as-medicine emphasis: clinical exercise science, health behaviors, pre-habilitation, strength and conditioning
• Internship sites include Buffalo Bills, University at Buffalo Sports Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
• Prepares for four NASM specializations and the NSCA CSCS
• Research project option can lead to ACSM, NSCA or NATA conference presentation

The program page lists $945 per credit, which is $31,185 for 33 credits. Canisius's 2026-27 cost page says graduate tuition is the same online and on campus, and it lists Kinesiology at $945.

That page also lists a Comprehensive University Fee of $520 per semester if you take 9 or more credits, or $58 per credit if you take 8 or fewer. On the one-year roadmap (15, 15 and 3 credits) that's $1,214. If you never go above 8 credits in a term, 33 credits at $58 is $1,914.

Employees of Canisius's educational partners may qualify for a 25 percent reduction in graduate tuition, which would take $7,796 off $31,185.

33 credits at $945 a credit comes to $31,185 in tuition, before fees.

Terms are 15 weeks long. Canisius says its online courses are usually not self-paced and are taught by a professor. Most discussion happens on message boards in D2L, and some courses add video or audio posts or web conferencing.

Both roadmaps depend on the calendar. KIN 502, 615 and the online-only KIN 507, 602 and 622 run every fall. KIN 506, 522, 565 and 583 run every spring. The one-year roadmap puts five courses in fall, five in spring and the internship or project in summer, which is 15 credits in each long term.

The internship is a supervised part-time placement of at least 120 hours, and it needs permission from the program director and associate dean.

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

• Canisius's pages disagree. The catalog wants a statement of about 500 words, while the admissions page says 200 to 300. The catalog names two prerequisite areas, and the admissions page adds kinesiology and nutrition.
• The two-year roadmap lists an internship or project slot in both semesters of year two, which would total 36 credits against the 33 in the catalog.
• Most courses run once a year, and the catalog says some sections can fill up. Miss a fall or spring course and you may wait a year for it.
• The program lists no programmatic accreditation, so the ACSM exam path after August 15, 2027 isn't clear.
• Fees aren't on the program page, so add the comprehensive fee to the $945 rate.

• Is the statement of purpose about 500 words or 200 to 300, and are unofficial transcripts enough to start my file?
• Do I need kinesiology and nutrition coursework, or only anatomy and physiology and exercise physiology?
• The two-year roadmap lists KIN 603 or 689 twice. Do I take one three-credit course or two?
• How many online sections of KIN 502, 506, 565, 583 and 615 run each term, and how often do they fill?
• Will Canisius help me find an internship site near me, and who signs off on it?
• Has the program applied for CAAHEP accreditation, and how would it affect ACSM eligibility for graduates?
• Is my employer one of the educational partners eligible for the 25 percent tuition reduction?

Canisius University is a Jesuit private university founded in 1870 in Buffalo, New York. Its online M.S. in Exercise Science (formerly Health and Human Performance) is a clinical-exercise and performance program whose students intern with organizations such as the Buffalo Bills and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 55 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 55 of 99, master's
• Best Online Strength and Conditioning Degrees Rank 31 of 39, master's
• Accelerated Online Programs Rank 25 of 46, master's
• Best for Working Adults Rank 33 of 50, master's
• Best for Personal Trainers Rank 25 of 32, master's
• Best Pre-Physical Therapy Programs Rank 9 of 12, master's
• Best Pre-Health Programs Rank 6 of 7, master's
• Best Christian Programs Rank 18 of 27, master's
• Best Part-Time Programs Rank 15 of 23, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 44 of 78, master's

• Corban University

  Master of Science in Kinesiology (MSK)

  Oregon $750 per credit Score 53.2

• United States Sports University

  Master of Sports Science (M.S.S.) in Exercise Science (Strength & Conditioning)

  Alabama $640 per credit Score 53.4

• University of Southern Mississippi

  Coaching and Sport Performance, M.S.

  Mississippi $578.12 per credit Score 53.4

• University of Connecticut

  Master of Science in Exercise Prescription

  Connecticut $925 per credit Score 53.7