East Tennessee State University Master of Science in Sport Science and Coach Education (Online, Strength and Conditioning Concentration)

ETSU's online M.S. is aimed squarely at people who coach athletes or want to. It's asynchronous, needs no GRE, and comes from a public university with a research center behind it.

ETSU says its online Strength and Conditioning concentration is among the few of its kind in the United States. The catches are price and paperwork. Out-of-state students pay $835.50 a credit, and you'll line up your own 240 internship hours.

East Tennessee State University is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The online M.S. in Sport Science and Coach Education is 36 credits, and ETSU says it's meant for current or aspiring strength coaches, athletes and fitness professionals.

The program is tied to ETSU's Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education. Students are invited to take part in clinics for coaches, continuing education programs and other activities in the sports community. That's a real perk if you want contacts, though the page doesn't promise any particular placement.

You log in on your own schedule. ETSU says all courses are delivered asynchronously, and it lists no campus visits. Admission is for fall and spring terms.

The field work is the part to plan early. The program requires 240 supervised internship hours, and ETSU says they can be completed at a site of your choosing. If you're a high school assistant coach or a facility trainer, your current workplace may be a natural fit. If you aren't, you'll be asking a team or gym to host you.

Full-time students typically finish in 2 years, or 4 semesters. With approval, you may finish in 3 semesters by taking extra courses each term. Part-time takes 3 to 4 years.

Who It Fits

• You already coach or train athletes and can't pause that job. Every course is delivered asynchronously, there are no on-campus requirements, and the internship can be completed at a site you choose.
• You live in Tennessee. The in-state rate is $672 per credit, which is $24,192 for all 36 credits, and that's the best price on this page.
• You're changing careers into strength and conditioning. ETSU says your bachelor's doesn't have to be in a related field, though it may nudge you toward exercise physiology basics first.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you want a clinical or health-care exercise degree. This is a coaching and performance program, and the page names no clinical exercise physiology or certification prep.
• Skip it if you live in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia. ETSU excludes border-state residents from the eRate, and the program page doesn't show what you'd pay instead.
• Skip it if you need a set class schedule to stay on track. Full-time is 4 semesters, and part-time can stretch to 3 or 4 years, so you'll be managing your own deadlines.

The online page sends you to the graduate catalog for course lists. ETSU's on-campus page for the same degree gives the structure: 15 credits of major field core, 12 credits in your concentration, 3 to 6 credits of guided electives, and 3 credits labeled thesis or internship. That totals 33 credits with a thesis and 36 without.

The Strength and Conditioning concentration is offered only online. ETSU says it's for students who work with, or want to work with, competitive athletes at the high school, college, professional and elite levels. The topics it names are coaching issues, the physiology of training and conditioning, and fatigue management.

Standout Features

• Online Strength and Conditioning concentration described as among the few of its kind in the US; integrated with ETSU Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education

There are three rates. Tennessee residents pay $672 a credit, which is $24,192 for 36 credits. Out-of-state students who take only web-based courses pay the eRate of $835.50, or $30,078 in total. The standard out-of-state rate is $1,513 a credit, or $54,468, and you don't want that one.

ETSU calls the eRate roughly a 50% savings on out-of-state tuition. To get it you can't live in a border state or select border county, and you can't receive other ETSU scholarships or support that term, though federal financial aid is still open. The page adds that additional fees may apply, and it says no scholarships are specific to this program.

36 credits at $835.50 a credit comes to $30,078 in tuition, before fees. At the in-state rate of $672, the same 36 credits come to $24,192.

ETSU is accredited by SACSCOC, the regional accreditor for the South. The program page lists no programmatic accreditation and no certification exam it prepares you for.

That matters less here than in clinical programs, because strength coaching credentials work differently. The NSCA's CSCS exam looks at your bachelor's degree, not your master's. Starting January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program, and that rule won't change based on this master's.

ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates face a CAAHEP requirement from August 15, 2027, which is a clinical route this program doesn't advertise. Treat the degree as coaching education, and check your bachelor's against those 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.

• The cheap rate isn't for everyone. Only Tennessee residents get $672, and most other online students pay $835.50, which is $163.50 more per credit.
• The pages don't agree on admission. The online FAQ says your undergraduate degree needn't be related, while the on-campus page asks for a degree in physical education, exercise science or a closely related field and a 3.0 GPA.
• You have to find your own internship site. 240 hours is a lot to arrange while you work, and the page doesn't spell out who supervises or approves the site.
• There's no thesis path listed online. The on-campus page gives 33 credits with a thesis and 36 without, but the online page states only 36.

• Is the online degree 36 credits with no thesis option, or can I do a 33-credit thesis version?
• What GPA and undergraduate background do you require for the online concentration, and would you take a career changer?
• Can my current job count as the site for the 240 internship hours, and who has to supervise or sign off?
• I live in a border state. Which rate do I pay, and would I still get the eRate?
• Which fees come on top of tuition each semester for an online student?
• Which courses make up the Strength and Conditioning concentration, and how often is each offered?
• Can I take extra courses and finish in 3 semesters, and who approves that?

Public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee whose online master's in sport science is integrated with the ETSU Center of Excellence for Sport Science and Coach Education.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 95 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 95 of 99, master's
• Best Online Strength and Conditioning Degrees Rank 39 of 39, master's
• Best Online Sport Science Degrees Rank 17 of 17, master's
• No-GRE Online Master's Programs Rank 42 of 44, master's
• Best for Coaches Rank 41 of 43, master's
• Best Part-Time Programs Rank 22 of 23, master's
• Best Online Programs in Tennessee Rank 4 of 4, master's

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