Fort Hays State University Master of Science in Health and Human Performance (Online)

Fort Hays State's online M.S. in Health and Human Performance is a low-cost, part-time master's for people who already work in fitness, coaching, teaching or wellness. At $362.73 per credit, the 32 credits come to $11,607.36. It's a general degree, though, not a clinical exercise physiology program. Only a handful of its courses are about exercise physiology, and nothing on its pages lists CAAHEP accreditation or certification prep.

Fort Hays State University is a public university in Hays, Kansas, with a large online arm, and this degree comes from its Department of Health and Human Performance. The exercise science emphasis master's on the same campus is listed as on-campus, so the online degree is the general one, and you shape it with electives.

The program is 17 credits of core courses plus 15 credits of electives. Admission asks for an undergraduate degree in the field or a related one, or at least 18 undergraduate credits in health and human performance, a 2.5 GPA for the last 60 credits of your bachelor's and three letters of recommendation. Fort Hays says you can stay at your place of work in your home community.

FHSU Online graduate tuition and fees are $362.73 per credit for Fall 2026 through Summer 2027. Thirty-two credits come to $11,607.36. That's the same rate the school lists for on-campus resident and regional students, and online students from any state pay it.

Leveling adds cost. If you need all 18 leveling credits, you'd take 50 credits at $362.73, or $18,136.50, and the 18 alone are $6,529.14. A thesis doesn't change the total, since it replaces six elective credits. The tuition page lists a 9-credit semester at $3,264.57, which matters if you study full time.

32 credits at $362.73 a credit comes to $11,607 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• Coaches, teachers and wellness staff who want a graduate credential without leaving work. The electives include Coaching Today's Athlete, Secondary School Physical Education Curriculum, Sports Marketing and Promotion and Facilities in Health and Human Performance.
• Budget-minded students. Online students all pay the same rate whatever their residency, and most take 6 credits a semester. That's $2,176.38 in tuition per semester.
• Career changers with a bachelor's in another field. Fort Hays lets you add up to 18 credits of leveling coursework, and the department reviews any physical education or health credits you already have. You must finish those within a year of admission.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone aiming at clinical exercise physiology. Nothing on the online course list covers ECG monitoring or stress testing. Look at the online clinical exercise physiology master's programs instead.
• Anyone in a hurry. At 6 credits a semester including summers, Fort Hays says three to four years. Four of the core courses appear only in the summer list, so a missed summer can delay you.
• Students who want a thesis without travel. The thesis is six elective credits and requires a certain number of on-campus activities.

The core is HHP 815 Research in Health and Human Performance, HHP 820 Concepts and Objectives, HHP 825 Statistics, HHP 835 Motor Learning, HHP 850 Physiological Analysis of Motor Activity, HHP 650G Biomechanics and the two-credit HHP 875 Graduate Seminar. The catalog describes HHP 850 as physiological measures at rest, under acute stress and through chronic training, with laboratory experiences. HHP 825 covers multiple regression, t-tests and ANOVA.

Electives rotate, so not every course runs every semester. The exercise-focused ones are HHP 612G Physiology of Aging, HHP 619G Exercise Prescription and Testing for the Elderly and HHP 812 Nutrition for Health and Fitness. The rest cover public health, epidemiology, health care law, sport in society, facilities and physical education curriculum.

So it's exercise science in the broad, movement-and-performance sense. Even if you pick every exercise-focused elective, only about five courses are physiology, biomechanics or nutrition. A comprehensive exam ends the program.

Courses the School Names

• HHP 815 Research in Health and Human Performance
• HHP 825 Statistics
• HHP 835 Motor Learning
• HHP 850 Physiological Analysis of Motor Activity
• HHP 650G Biomechanics
• HHP 619G Exercise Prescription & Testing for the Elderly
• HHP 812 Nutrition for Health and Fitness
• HHP 840 Coaching Today's Athlete

Standout Features

• Elective menu includes Exercise Prescription & Testing for the Elderly, Physiology of Aging, Nutrition for Health and Fitness, Coaching Today's Athlete
• Core includes Physiological Analysis of Motor Activity and Biomechanics

All the coursework runs online across fall, spring, summer and short intersession terms. Fort Hays says most online students take six credits a semester, summers included, and finish in three to four years. The catalog says a degree must be completed within eight years, so there's room for a break.

Core courses are offered on a schedule. Research Methods runs in fall, spring and summer, Statistics in fall and summer, and Concepts and Objectives, Motor Learning, Physiological Analysis and Biomechanics only in summer. Electives are online on a rotating basis, so check each semester's schedule. A graduate project or internship, worth up to three credits, needs your advisor's approval before it goes into your plan.

Fort Hays has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1915. The program has no programmatic accreditation, and the school lists no certification prep. The degree isn't on the CAAHEP list we pulled on September 29, 2026.

That matters if you're thinking about the ACSM exercise physiologist exams. From August 15, 2027, candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program or one that has started the process. The CSCS 2030 rule concerns your bachelor's degree, not this master's.

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 online page lists seven core courses that add up to 20 credits but calls the core 17. The catalog's version of the degree lists HHP 835 or HHP 650G, which brings the core to 17.
• The online page asks for a 2.5 GPA and no test scores. The catalog's admission text for the exercise science master's asks for 3.0, or 2.5 to 2.99 with GRE scores of 148 or a Miller Analogies score of 396.
• Advanced Clinical Exercise Physiology and Advanced Instrumentation in Exercise Physiology appear in the catalog, but they aren't on the online elective menu.
• Fort Hays' federal graduation rate is 48 percent. That number covers the whole university, not this program.

• Which admission standard applies to me online, a 2.5 GPA or the catalog's 3.0 with test-score alternatives?
• Do HHP 845 and HHP 847 run online, and can I use them as electives?
• How do the laboratory experiences in HHP 850 work for an online student?
• Which summer courses must I take, and what happens if I miss a summer?
• What are the requirements for an internship or graduate project, and can my current employer count?
• How many leveling credits would my bachelor's require, and can I start core courses before finishing them?
• What on-campus activities does the thesis option require, and how many trips are involved?

Public university in Hays, Kansas with a large online arm (FHSU Online); the Department of Health and Human Performance offers on-campus exercise science degrees and online health and human performance degrees.

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