Georgia Southern University Master of Science in Kinesiology, Coaching Education Concentration (Online)

Georgia Southern's online coaching education master's is a coaching degree with a science core, not an exercise physiology degree. It's 30 credits at $378 each, fully online, and you finish in 13 months from the summer start.

It's a strong, low-cost fit if you're already coaching and want a master's you can apply to your own team. Skip it if you want clinical exercise physiology, the ACSM exercise physiologist route, or a start date other than summer.

Georgia Southern is a public university with its main campus in Statesboro, Georgia. The Master of Science in Kinesiology has three concentrations, and only Coaching Education is offered fully online. The program launched in 1998 and has been fully online since 2007. Full-time faculty with coaching experience teach the courses, and the curriculum follows the National Standards for Sport Coaches.

Admission asks for a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited school with a 2.75 GPA on your last 60 credit hours, or 2.50 for provisional admission. You also submit a resume, three references and a $50 fee, and you must be coaching while you're in the program.

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

Georgia Southern's fall 2026 distance education rate sheet lists $378 per credit hour for the Coaching Education concentration. For 30 credits that's $11,340. The application fee is $50 and non-refundable.

Online students also pay a technology fee and an online learning fee, and the online learning fee changes with your credit hours and the campus you're coded to. The mandatory fee sheet lists online learning fees from $412 to $724 a semester for Statesboro-coded students and a $100 technology fee, so ask for a total before you plan around the $11,340.

30 credits at $378 a credit comes to $11,340 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• You coach now, at any level. The practicum happens in your own coaching setting with a field supervisor, so your current team or club becomes the lab.
• You want a public-university master's without a big bill. Tuition for the concentration is $378 per credit hour, and the fall 2026 rate sheet lists one rate for online students.
• You want coursework that mixes science with the human side of coaching, including pedagogy, sport psychology and athletic administration, taught by faculty who have coached.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you want to become an exercise physiologist or work in a clinic. This concentration is about coaching, and the online exercise physiology degrees are a better place to start.
• Skip it if you aren't coaching yet. The page says you must be coaching while in the program, even though it also mentions people entering the field.
• Skip it if you can't wait. Every admitted student starts in the summer, and the application deadline is April 29.

You take ten courses, and the practicum is the last of them. KINS 6132 Research Methods comes first and teaches you to run empirical studies in sport coaching and to judge published research. KINS 7135 Sport Coaching Pedagogy and KINS 7136 Sociocultural Foundations of Sport Coaching cover teaching and the social side of sport.

The science is thinner than the degree title suggests. KINS 7137 Scientific Foundations of Human Performance and KINS 7138 Practical Applications of Human Performance are where you build training and conditioning programs. KINS 7433 Prevention, Recognition and Care of Athletic Injuries adds injury basics. KINS 7530 Psychology of Sport and Exercise Performance, KINS 7430 Administrative Issues in Coaching and KINS 7437 Analysis of Teaching Physical Education round out the list.

KINS 7730 Practicum in Coaching is 3 credits. It covers planning, running practice sessions, scouting and off-season programming, with faculty and your field supervisor giving feedback.

Courses the School Names

• KINS 6132 Research Methods
• KINS 7135 Sport Coaching Pedagogy
• KINS 7136 Sociocultural Foundations of Sport Coaching
• KINS 7137 Scientific Foundations of Human Performance
• KINS 7138 Practical Applications of Human Performance
• KINS 7430 Administrative Issues in Coaching
• KINS 7433 Prevention, Recognition and Care of Athletic Injuries
• KINS 7437 Analysis of Teaching Physical Education
• KINS 7530 Psychology of Sport and Exercise Performance
• KINS 7730 Practicum in Coaching

Standout Features

• Program launched in 1998 and has been fully online since 2007
• Curriculum follows the National Standards for Sport Coaches; taught by full-time faculty with coaching experience
• Student Advisory Council leadership opportunity for coaching education graduate students

Classes are 100% online, and the school says online instructors build interactive elements into each course and that academic and technical support is available. Students start together in a summer cohort, and Georgia Southern says you can finish in 13 months.

The practicum is where the online format meets real life. You complete it in your own setting, so you need a coaching role that lets you plan sessions, teach athletes and organize events. Students can also join the Student Advisory Council, which represents coaching education graduate students to the department.

Georgia Southern is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). The program page says the concentration is accredited by the National Committee for Accreditation of Coaching Education (NCACE), a coaching accreditation that is separate from CAAHEP and CASCE.

The general M.S. in Kinesiology page says graduates can apply for ACSM, ASEP or NSCA certification, but the Coaching Education page names no certification. Certifications like the ACSM-EP and the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) start with a bachelor's. From August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP candidates need a CAAHEP-accredited program, and from January 1, 2030, U.S. CSCS candidates need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program.

Where this degree can lead: Exercise Science Jobs.

• It's a coaching degree first. Only two of the ten courses are human performance science, so it's a poor substitute for an exercise physiology master's.
• Admission is once a year. Summer start only, with an April 29 deadline, means a missed deadline costs you a year.
• The pages disagree about who it's for. The program page invites people entering coaching, but it also says you must be coaching while enrolled.
• The application details differ by page. The general kinesiology page lists GRE scores and two letters of recommendation, while the coaching page lists three references and the catalog says no GRE.

• Does a volunteer, assistant or part-time coaching role count as coaching while in the program, and what do you need to verify?
• Is a GRE score required, since the general kinesiology page mentions GRE scores and the coaching page and catalog don't?
• What will my total per-semester fees be, including the technology fee and the online learning fee, at my credit load?
• Which semesters am I enrolled in, and when does the practicum fall in the 13 months?
• Does the Coaching Education concentration prepare me for any certification, or does that language apply only to the exercise science concentration?
• How does the practicum work if my coaching season ends before the semester does?

Georgia Southern is a public University System of Georgia institution with campuses in Statesboro, Savannah and Hinesville. Its Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology runs a CAAHEP-accredited on-campus BS in Exercise Science and an MS in Kinesiology with three concentrations; only the Coaching Education concentration is fully online.

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