Concordia University-Saint Paul Online Master of Science in Strength and Conditioning

Concordia St. Paul's online M.S. in Strength and Conditioning is built for people already coaching or training: 33 credits at $475 each, eight-week asynchronous courses, a cohort and no clinical placement. It points at the CSCS and NASM-PES exams. It also shares nine of eleven courses with the school's exercise science master's, has no supervised coaching hours, and can't repair a bachelor's that fails the CSCS rule starting in 2030.

CSP Global delivers this master's for Concordia University, St. Paul. The focus is athletic performance: designing training programs, running sports performance testing and lowering injury risk for athletes and fitness clients. The school says the courses prepare you to oversee strength coaching for high school, collegiate and professional teams, or to train clients at fitness centers.

Admission asks for a bachelor's degree with at least a 3.0 GPA. There's no GRE or GMAT and no application fee.

The coursework is asynchronous, so there are no set login times, and the program follows a cohort model. Each class lasts eight weeks. The school says the least time to finish is 5.5 semesters, or about 2 years.

The FAQ says the program is designed for working professionals and that many students already work as coaches, personal trainers or in performance roles. There's an online KHS Lounge for resources and networking, and the Career Development Center and Handshake app handle job leads.

Who It Fits

• Working coaches and trainers. The school says many students already coach or train, and asynchronous classes with no placement let you keep your job. You move through eight-week courses alongside a cohort.
• Anyone with graduate credit to bring. CSP says eligible students can transfer up to 50% of the coursework, so a strong prior master's could cut the bill roughly in half.
• Military members, Guard, Reserve and current spouses. The graduate military rate is $350 per credit, which makes the degree $11,550.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants a clinical path. The fitness assessment course covers athletes and people with disabilities, but nothing here is clinical exercise testing. Try the online exercise physiology degrees.
• Anyone who needs supervised coaching hours built in. There's no internship or practicum, so you'll find your own hands-on reps.
• Anyone hoping the master's changes CSCS eligibility. The exam looks at your bachelor's, and after January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates need one from a CASCE-accredited program.

All eleven courses are required and worth three credits each. KHS 513 Scientific Principles of Strength and Conditioning is the anchor, pulling together exercise physiology, functional anatomy, sports nutrition and risk management. KHS 514 Exercise and Fitness Assessment covers testing cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility and body composition, along with choosing the equipment.

KHS 524 Advanced Program Design for Special Populations covers children, aging adults and clients with physical or cognitive conditions, using progressions and regressions.

KHS 615 Exercise Prescription, KHS 600 Exercise Physiology, KHS 585 Advanced Functional Anatomy and Biomechanics, KHS 605 Nutrition and Metabolism, KHS 590 Psychology of Sport and Exercise, KHS 570 Ethics and Sociology and KHS 610 Research Methods fill in the rest. KHS 620, the Master's Capstone, has you research strength and conditioning issues with input from professionals.

Courses the School Names

• KHS513 Scientific Principles of Strength and Conditioning
• KHS524 Advanced Program Design for Special Populations
• KHS590 Psychology of Sport and Exercise
• KHS615 Advanced Exercise Prescription
• KHS 600 Exercise Physiology
• KHS 585 Advanced Functional Anatomy & Biomechanics in Exercise Science
• KHS 610 Research Methods

Standout Features

• Explicit CSCS and NASM-PES exam preparation
• Cohort model, 11 online courses, asynchronous with no clinical placement

Tuition is $475 per credit, or $15,675 for 33 credits, and the school says that leaves out fees, books and supplies. Half the coursework can transfer. If 16 credits transfer, you pay for 17, or $8,075. If 17 transfer, you pay for 16, or $7,600.

The financial aid text mentions a tuition discount for online students that limits eligibility for institutional scholarships, and transfer awards of $2,000 or more. Military students should ask which of those they can combine with the $350 rate.

33 credits at $475 a credit comes to $15,675 in tuition, before fees.

CSP is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The program lists no programmatic accreditation. The school says the curriculum prepares you for the NSCA's CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) and NASM's PES (Performance Enhancement Specialist) exams, which you register for separately.

Today the CSCS asks for a bachelor's plus CPR and AED certification. From January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates need a bachelor's from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning Education (CASCE). That rule looks at your bachelor's, so check yours on NSCA's list.

One wording trap: the school's category page talks about designing 'athletic training programs.' That means workouts, not the athletic trainer career, which needs a separate CAATE-accredited program.

Where this degree can lead: Strength and Conditioning Coach Careers.

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

• The strength focus is thin on paper. Nine of eleven courses match the exercise science master's, so the difference comes down to KHS 514 and KHS 524. Ask for syllabi rather than trusting course titles.
• There's no internship, practicum or on-site training. If you want coaching experience, it comes from your own job.
• The transfer cap is written as 'up to 50%' of 33 credits, which is 16.5, so the whole-number limit needs confirming.
• The online-student tuition discount limits institutional scholarship eligibility, according to the program page, so the $475 rate may not stack with other awards.

• When does the next cohort start, and how many courses do I take at once?
• Who gives professional input on the capstone, and can I research my own team or facility?
• Is the transfer cap 16 credits or 17, and which courses can it cover?
• How does CSP show that the curriculum prepares me for the CSCS and NASM-PES, and are study materials or exam fees included?
• Will CSP tell me whether my bachelor's meets NSCA's 2030 rule?
• Can the Career Development Center connect me with coaching internships or volunteer positions?
• Which scholarships or military benefits can I combine with the online-student tuition discount?

Concordia University, St. Paul is a private Lutheran university in Saint Paul, Minnesota accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1967. Its online arm, CSP Global, runs a full online exercise science ladder from a B.A. through master's degrees to a PhD/EdD in Kinesiology.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 35 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 35 of 99, master's
• Best Online Strength and Conditioning Degrees Rank 22 of 39, master's
• Accelerated Online Programs Rank 38 of 46, master's
• No-GRE Online Master's Programs Rank 18 of 44, master's
• Best for Military Students Rank 12 of 35, master's
• Best for Working Adults Rank 20 of 50, master's
• Best for Parents Rank 7 of 14, master's
• Best for Personal Trainers Rank 18 of 32, master's
• Best for Coaches Rank 18 of 43, master's
• Best Christian Programs Rank 12 of 27, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 28 of 78, master's
• Best Online Programs in Minnesota Rank 1 of 2, master's

• Bachelor of Arts in Exercise Science

  B.A., Bachelor's

  Online With Campus Requirements $420 per credit Score 52.0

• Master of Science in Exercise Science

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $475 per credit Score 50.9

• Doctor of Education in Kinesiology (emphases: Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, Exercise and Sport Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning)

  Ed.D., Doctorate

  Fully Online $690 per credit Score 44.5

• Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (emphases: Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, Exercise and Sport Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning)

  Ph.D., Doctorate

  Fully Online $690 per credit Score 44.5

• Troy University

  Kinesiology, M.S.

  Alabama $475 per credit Score 57.9

• University of the Cumberlands

  Master of Science in Health & Human Performance (MSHHP)

  Kentucky $355 per credit Score 58.0

• University of Central Missouri

  Master of Science in Kinesiology

  Missouri $450 per credit Score 58.1

• University of Wisconsin-River Falls

  Clinical Exercise Physiology (M.S.)

  Wisconsin $567 per credit Score 57.6