Concordia University-Chicago Exercise Science (PhD), Online

This is a research doctorate for working adults who already hold a master's: 69 credits at $775 each, asynchronous courses and a dissertation sequence. It suits someone aiming at university teaching, research or program leadership. The tuition comes to $53,475 before fees, it leads to no clinical credential, and the dissertation path runs longer than its "9-credit" label suggests. Ask who supervises dissertations before you apply.

Concordia University Chicago is a private Lutheran university in River Forest, Illinois. The Ph.D. in Exercise Science is 100% online and asynchronous, and the school describes it as interdisciplinary with a strong research orientation, small classes and Christ-centered values. You need a master's degree in health science, exercise science or a related field, with at least a 3.0 GPA.

The minimum is 69 credits. That's 12 credits of research methods and statistics, 21 of common core, a 12-credit track, 12 credits of cognate electives, a 3-credit comprehensive exam and a 9-credit dissertation. You choose a track in Advanced Exercise Physiology or Applied Strength and Conditioning.

Everything is online and asynchronous, and the school stresses small classes and faculty mentorship. It lists six faculty, and only two of them hold exercise and sports science titles. The other four are in biology, chemistry and physics. That's a small pool for dissertation committees, so ask who supervises exercise science dissertations and how many students each one carries.

The catalog builds the timeline around a comprehensive exam and proposal defense instead of a set calendar. Most courses want a B or higher in their prerequisites, and a provisionally admitted student who doesn't earn a B or higher in AES-6250 as the first course is dismissed.

Who It Fits

• Master's-prepared professionals who want to teach at a university or lead research. The school lists university professor, research scientist, program director and clinical leader as targets, and the methods sequence covers quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods work.
• Concordia's own master's graduates. Up to 12 credits from its Applied Exercise Science master's can count if you earned a B or higher and start the PhD within three calendar years. At the doctoral rate, that trims $9,300 from your PhD tuition.
• Coaches and strength professionals. The Applied Strength and Conditioning track uses AES-6830, AES-6835, Integrative Approach to Sports Science and Advanced Biomechanics, so the doctorate stays close to training practice.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants a doctorate that leads to a license or clinical credential. This is a research degree, and it isn't the route to ACSM or NSCA certification. For clinical work, look at online clinical exercise physiology master's programs instead.
• Students who want a funded, full-time, lab-based PhD. This one is self-paid at $775 per credit, asynchronous and designed around a job.
• Anyone who needs a fixed finish line. Proposal courses continue until you pass your defense, so your timeline belongs to your committee.

The methods sequence is RES-7605 Quantitative Analysis (taught with SPSS), RES-7620 Advanced Topics in Statistics (multivariate analysis, hierarchical linear models, factor analysis), RES-7700 Qualitative Research and RES-7800 Mixed Methods Research. The common core includes HHP-7000 Cardiovascular Responses to Exercise, HHP-7010 Neuromuscular Responses to Exercise, HHP-7030 Advanced Exercise and Sports Nutrition, HHP-7005 Scientific Communication and HHP-7090 Ethical Issues in HHP.

The exercise physiology track adds HHP-7020 Exercise for Disease Prevention and Management and HHP-7510 Advanced Topics in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Cognates can come from gerontology courses, grant writing or The Professoriate. HHP-7100 Seminar in Health & Human Performance leads into a written comprehensive exam, graded pass or fail.

Fail the exam and the catalog says you can't move on to the dissertation until you take the HHP-7910 remediation course and retake it. The dissertation runs through DISS-7011, DISS-7012 and DISS-7013, at 3 credits each, and you keep enrolling in proposal courses until your proposal defense succeeds.

Courses the School Names

• Cardiovascular Responses to Exercise
• Neuromuscular Responses to Exercise
• Advanced Exercise and Sports Nutrition
• Scientific Communication
• Ethical Issues in HHP
• Seminar in Health & Human Performance
• Research Design
• Quantitative Analysis
• Qualitative Research
• Mixed Methods Research
• Advanced Topics in Statistics

Standout Features

• Interdisciplinary research orientation across health promotion, kinesiology and human performance; 9-credit dissertation
• Accelerated MS-to-PhD pathway with 12 transferable credits

Tuition is $775 per credit hour plus an $18 per credit technology fee. For 69 credits that's $53,475 in tuition and $1,242 in technology fees, or $54,717 in all. Transferring 12 credits from Concordia's own master's leaves 57 credits, which is $44,175 in tuition.

Two things can push the bill higher. After your proposal defense you enroll in DISS-8010 and DISS-8011, which carry zero credits and continue until you defend. A related course, DISS-8000, charges one semester hour of tuition per registration, so ask whether the completion courses do too. At $775, that would be $775 each time.

69 credits at $775 a credit comes to $53,475 in tuition, before fees.

The Higher Learning Commission accredits the university. The doctorate isn't on CAAHEP's or CASCE's lists from September 29, 2026, and it doesn't lead to a license.

This isn't the route to ACSM or NSCA credentials. Those exams have their own program-accreditation rules, starting August 15, 2027 for ACSM and January 1, 2030 for the CSCS. If you already hold those certifications, this degree adds research and teaching credentials on top.

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.

• The "9-credit dissertation" label understates the path. The catalog counts three proposal courses as those 9 credits, then adds zero-credit completion courses until you defend.
• Of the six faculty listed, four are in biology, chemistry or physics, so ask who actually chairs exercise science dissertations.
• Failing the comprehensive exam blocks the dissertation until you take remediation and retake it.
• The only outcome number we have is a 36 percent federal graduation rate for the whole university, which says little about this doctorate.

• How many students does each dissertation chair supervise, and who chairs exercise physiology and strength and conditioning committees?
• Do DISS-8010 and DISS-8011 carry tuition, since DISS-8000 charges one semester hour each time?
• How long do students typically take from the comprehensive exam to the proposal defense, and is there a maximum time limit?
• Is any part of the program, such as the defense or a research requirement, held in person?
• If my master's is tangential, what does provisional admission with AES-6250 involve?
• Do the 12 master's credits still count if my Concordia degree is more than three years old?
• Which financial aid or employer tuition benefits apply to doctoral students?

Private Christian university in River Forest, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Its College of Health, Science & Technology houses a Health Sciences & Human Performance division that runs an on-campus BA in Exercise Science plus fully online kinesiology, applied exercise science and exercise science PhD programs, with the online master's described as one of its most-enrolled.

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