Cochise County Community College District Online Fitness and Wellness (FIT)

Cochise College's Fitness and Wellness A.A. is one of the lowest-priced associate degrees on this site for an Arizona resident. Online tuition is $96 per credit, so 60 credits costs $5,760.

It's a transfer degree first and a fitness degree second, with anatomy and physiology, applied nutrition, a wellness course and statistics sitting inside a 35-credit general education block. Cochise's own pages disagree on the degree type, credit total and one tuition rate.

Cochise College is a public community college in southeastern Arizona with campuses in Sierra Vista and Douglas, and it's accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The program page describes the degree as intended for students interested in fitness, recreation or sports, designed for transfer into university programs in exercise physiology, physical education teaching and fitness wellness.

The page also asks you to build your program of study with a Cochise advisor to make the transfer work. Admission has no special requirements for the degree, though the catalog lists ENG 096, MAT 081 and RDG 092 or placement scores as prerequisites. The recommended plan takes four semesters, and you can start in fall or spring.

The program page is labeled 100% Online, and the catalog link is titled Fitness and Wellness, 100% Online. The degree map is less direct. It lists Douglas and Sierra Vista as locations offered and marks most courses CB, OL, meaning campus-based or online, where online can be synchronous, asynchronous or a combination.

That means you should ask which sections run online each term and which meet at set times. Semesters are 16 weeks. Fall 2026 begins August 17, spring 2027 begins January 11 and summer 2027 begins May 24, but the recommended path starts in fall or spring.

Who It Fits

• Arizona residents who want a very low-cost first two years. The in-state online rate is $96 per credit, and Cochise says students can satisfy up to 30 credits with prior learning coursework. Active-duty military pay $96 wherever they live.
• Veterans and reservists outside Arizona. Out-of-state students who are non-active-duty military, veterans, reservists or National Guard pay $144 per credit, not the $258 that other out-of-state online students pay. Cochise's Sierra Vista campus sits near Fort Huachuca.
• Students in Western states. The Western Undergraduate Exchange rate is $144 per credit, and the college lists Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming, plus the Northern Marianas Islands, as eligible.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants a degree that stands on its own. It's built for transfer, and a personal trainer credential comes from a separate exam. If you want a job-ready credential, start with a bachelor's from our online exercise science degrees for personal trainers list.
• Out-of-state students who aren't eligible for WUE or military rates. The online rate is $258 per credit, or $15,480 over 60 credits, so compare it with our cheapest online exercise science degrees first.
• Anyone who needs to confirm delivery first. Cochise's degree map marks courses as campus-based or online and gives no delivery code for HPE 179 Lifelong Wellness, so check that it runs online.

The degree is 60 credits. Thirty-five are the Arizona General Education Curriculum: written communication, quantitative reasoning, natural sciences, arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, oral communication and institutions in the Americas. The map puts PSY 101 in the first semester, CHM 130 Fundamental Chemistry and either BIO 156 or BIO 181 in the second, then COM 102.

The core is 17 to 18 credits: BIO 201 and BIO 202 Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, FON 201 Applied Nutrition, HPE 179 Lifelong Wellness, and MAT 167 Elements of Statistics or PSY 250. Electives fill the rest and must transfer to your target school.

Cochise's program outcomes include designing a personalized program that integrates nutrition and exercise. That's the closest this plan comes to exercise programming.

Courses the School Names

• BIO 201 Human Anatomy and Physiology I
• BIO 202 Human Anatomy and Physiology II
• FON 201 Applied Nutrition
• HPE 179 Lifelong Wellness
• MAT 167 Elements of Statistics
• CHM 130 Fundamental Chemistry
• PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology
• COM 102 Essentials of Communication

Standout Features

• Program page pairs the transfer degree with a learning outcome to design a personalized program integrating nutrition and exercise
• Up to 30 credits may be satisfied by prior learning

Cochise's 2026-27 rates are $96 per credit for online in-state students and $258 for online out-of-state students, so 60 credits costs $5,760 or $15,480. The out-of-state rate applies to anyone over 6 credits and is retroactive to the first credit.

Course fees are separate. The online sections of BIO 201 and BIO 202 are $113 and $102, CHM 130 online is $283, BIO 156 is $35 and FON 201 is $66, which adds up to $599 across those courses. Proctored exams cost $25 for one exam or $35 per course. Ask about textbooks too.

60 credits at $258 a credit comes to $15,480 in tuition, before fees. At the in-state rate of $96, the same 60 credits come to $5,760.

Cochise is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The degree has no programmatic accreditation, which is normal for an associate degree.

An associate degree doesn't satisfy the bachelor's requirement for the ACSM-EP or the CSCS, but you can sit the ACSM, NSCA, NASM and ACE personal trainer exams without a degree. 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.

The bachelor's you transfer into is what matters, so check both lists before you pick a school, and use Cochise's advising to confirm which of the 60 credits count.

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's exercise-science light. Only HPE 179 and FON 201 are directly about fitness and nutrition, and there's no exercise physiology, biomechanics, internship or capstone course.
• The pages disagree. The program header says Associate of Applied Science, while the overview, catalog and degree map say Associate of Arts. The program page also lists 60 to 64 credits, and the degree map says 60.
• The out-of-state 1-6 credit and WUE rates are $144 on the 2026-27 tuition page and rates sheet but $143 in the catalog.
• Course fees for chemistry and A&P are higher online than on campus, and the online out-of-state rate is $258.
• Cochise's federal graduation rate is 30 percent for the whole college.

• Is this degree an Associate of Arts or an Associate of Applied Science, and how many credits is it?
• Which sections of HPE 179, BIO 201, BIO 202 and CHM 130 run online, and do any require proctored exams or campus visits?
• Is the out-of-state 1-6 credit and WUE rate $143 or $144?
• How many of my 60 credits will my target university accept, and which university programs match this degree?
• Can prior learning credit, up to 30 credits, reduce the number of courses I take?
• Do I need to complete the ENG 096, MAT 081 or RDG 092 prerequisites, or can placement scores waive them?

Public community college in southeastern Arizona with campuses in Sierra Vista and Douglas, near Fort Huachuca, offering online associate programs and a small set of bachelor's degrees. The college is a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.

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• Best Online Programs in Arizona Rank 2 of 2, associate

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