Florida Atlantic University Online Master of Science in Exercise Science and Health Promotion

This is a 30-credit master's that costs $371.82 per credit if you live in Florida and $1,125.06 if you don't, and that gap decides who should apply. For a Florida resident who wants CSCS-focused coursework and can line up an in-person internship, the $11,154.60 in tuition is a low price for a master's. For everyone else, run the price before you look at the concentration menu.

The Department of Exercise and Health Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) runs this master's in three concentrations: Exercise Physiology, Strength & Conditioning and Health Promotion. The department says all graduate coursework is available fully online. Each concentration is 30 credits, finished in 12 to 18 months according to FAU.

The Strength & Conditioning concentration adds a required in-person internship with at least two different athletic populations, which is why we file this program as online with onsite requirements. You can start in fall, spring or summer. Applications are due July 1 for fall, November 1 for spring and April 1 for summer. You need a 3.0 GPA in the last 60 credits of your bachelor's degree.

The coursework is online, and FAU says the courses were custom designed with its Center for Online and Continuing Education and earned a 'High-Quality' distinction. The Strength & Conditioning internship is where the campus reaches you. The department calls the internship the final requirement, and the process starts a semester before you graduate.

You attend a mandatory pre-internship meeting (skip it and you can't register), interview at an approved site, and turn in a letter of agreement signed by your site supervisor, current CPR/AED certification and professional liability insurance with three million dollars aggregate and one million per claim in coverage. Deadlines are December 1 for spring, April 26 for summer and July 27 for fall, and late submissions aren't accepted.

Who It Fits

• Florida residents who want to sit for the CSCS. FAU says the Strength & Conditioning concentration prepares you for the National Strength & Conditioning Association's Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist exam, and the resident rate keeps the whole degree affordable.
• Current FAU undergraduates in exercise science or health sciences. The combined bachelor's-to-master's path lets 12 graduate credits count toward both degrees, so you finish both in five years. You apply in your junior year with a 3.25 GPA and need a B or higher in each graduate course you take early.
• Students who want research or a teaching assistantship. The department offers more than 10 graduate assistantships each semester, and you can add a six-credit thesis (PET 6971). Research happens in person and online, and the department points Exercise Physiology and Strength & Conditioning students to Michael Zourdos for in-person projects.

Who Should Skip It

• Out-of-state students who are watching cost. FAU publishes no separate online rate, so the non-resident $1,125.06 per credit applies, which is $33,751.80 for 30 credits before fees. Check our cheapest online exercise science degrees first.
• Anyone aiming at the ACSM clinical exercise physiologist exam. The Exercise Physiology concentration has no clinical placement, and nothing on FAU's pages lists CAAHEP accreditation. The clinical exercise physiology master's list is a better place to start.
• Anyone who can't get to an approved internship site. For Strength & Conditioning you interview at a site from FAU's approved list and get a supervisor's signature. If no approved site is within driving distance, this concentration will stall.

The Exercise Physiology program sheet asks for 18 required credits and 12 elective credits. The required courses are Advanced Exercise Physiology 1, Research & Evaluation, Advanced Exercise Physiology 2, Advanced Sports Nutrition, Advanced Exercise Testing and Prescription, and Strength & Conditioning Program Design. Each one lists a single rotation term (fall, spring or summer), so your start term shapes your first year.

The sheet says the two advanced physiology courses aren't sequential, which helps. Electives include Exercise Neuroscience, Skeletal Muscle Physiology, Human Obesity and Chronic Stress & Population Health. The Health Promotion sheet swaps in Needs Assessment & Program Planning, Evaluation of Health Promotion/Education and Epidemiological Basis of Health as required courses.

Courses the School Names

• Advanced Exercise Physiology 1
• Advanced Exercise Physiology 2
• Research & Evaluation
• Advanced Sports Nutrition
• Advanced Exercise Testing and Prescription
• Strength & Conditioning Program Design
• Exercise Neuroscience
• Skeletal Muscle Physiology
• Human Obesity
• Chronic Stress & Population Health

Standout Features

• Prepares students for the NSCA CSCS certification
• Required internship across two athletic populations at approved sites
• Faculty include Michael Zourdos, Ph.D., CSCS
• Courses custom-designed with FAU's Center for Online and Continuing Education and given the 'High-Quality' distinction
• More than 10 graduate assistantships offered each semester by the department
• Combined bachelor's-to-master's pathway finishes both degrees in five years
• Elective Skeletal Muscle Physiology and Exercise Neuroscience courses

Here's the math from FAU's 2026-2027 tuition breakdown. Thirty credits at the Florida resident rate is $11,154.60. At the non-resident rate it's $33,751.80. Online course sections add a Distance Learning fee of $30 per credit, which is $900 over the degree.

That puts a Florida resident at $12,054.60 and a non-resident at $34,651.80 before the smaller charges. Those are a one-time $35 graduate orientation fee and a Transportation Access Fee of $76.90 for each fall and spring semester ($32.04 in summer), which FAU charges online and on-campus students alike.

30 credits at $1,125.06 a credit comes to $33,752 in tuition, before fees. At the in-state rate of $371.82, the same 30 credits come to $11,155.

FAU's pages and program sheets don't list CAAHEP or CASCE accreditation, and the program isn't on the CAAHEP or CASCE lists we pulled on September 29, 2026. Two rule changes make that matter. Starting August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited exercise science or exercise physiology program, or one that has started the process, so the Exercise Physiology concentration won't qualify you unless FAU starts.

The NSCA rule starting January 1, 2030 requires U.S. CSCS candidates to hold a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program. That rule is about your bachelor's, not this master's, so check where your undergraduate degree came from. Finish here in 12 to 18 months and you can sit the exam before that date on today's bachelor's-plus-CPR/AED rule. Our CSCS guide has the exam details.

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 price splits sharply by residency, and fees stack on top. A non-resident pays about three times the resident tuition, and every student adds the $30 per credit Distance Learning fee.
• No programmatic accreditation appears anywhere, so the ACSM exam path after August 15, 2027 is closed unless FAU starts the CAAHEP process.
• The internship is on you. You find an approved site, meet the paperwork deadlines and carry your own liability insurance.
• Each required course on the sheet lists one rotation term. Miss a fall course and it's a year before it comes around again.

• Does the $1,125.06 non-resident rate apply to online students who live outside Florida, or is there a waiver or a lower online rate?
• Which course carries the Strength & Conditioning internship credit, and how many hours does it require?
• Where are the approved internship sites, and can I propose a site near where I live?
• Do online courses have live meetings or proctored exams, and how many hours a week should I plan on?
• If I start in spring or summer, which required courses can I take first given the rotation?
• Has the Exercise Physiology concentration started the CAAHEP process for ACSM candidates after August 15, 2027?
• Can online students get graduate assistantships, and what does the teaching duty involve when I'm not in Boca Raton?

Public research university in Boca Raton, Florida with several campuses in southeast Florida. The Department of Exercise Science and Health Promotion (now Exercise and Health Science) runs the online master's in three concentrations.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 64 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 64 of 99, master's
• Best Online Exercise Physiology Degrees Rank 10 of 19, master's
• Best Online Strength and Conditioning Degrees Rank 33 of 39, master's
• Accelerated Online Programs Rank 26 of 46, master's
• Best for Athletes Rank 10 of 15, master's
• Best Online Programs in Florida Rank 3 of 3, master's

• Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Health Promotion

  B.S., Bachelor's

  Online With Campus Requirements $799.72 per credit Score 47.8

Also at Florida Atlantic University, but not counted here because they are not fully online: Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and Health Promotion, Pre-Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy Concentration (bachelor's, hybrid).

• Culver-Stockton College

  Master of Athletic Training (MAT)

  Missouri $415 per credit Score 49.3

• Montreat College

  Master of Science in Kinesiology (Online)

  North Carolina $630 per credit Score 49.8

• Lenoir-Rhyne University

  Exercise Science, M.S.

  North Carolina $550 per credit Score 50.2

• The University of Texas at Tyler

  Master of Science in Kinesiology

  Texas Score 48.2