Hardin-Simmons University Online Master of Athletic Training (M.A.T.)

Hardin-Simmons's Master of Athletic Training is a route into a licensed health profession, and it only partly lives online. You study online for the first 13 months, travel to Abilene for six one-week labs, then spend year two in near-full-time clinical placements.

Tuition is $45,815 and the school's stated total is $52,625. Pick it if you want to become an athletic trainer and can step back from full-time work in year two.

Hardin-Simmons University is a private school in Abilene, Texas, with Baptist roots. It started this Master of Athletic Training (M.A.T.) in June 2019 and markets it as the first online M.A.T. in the country. The program runs 24 months, admits one cohort each June and caps that cohort at 16 students.

Be clear about what this degree is. Athletic trainers evaluate injuries, give emergency care and run rehabilitation alongside physicians. That's a health care job, not an exercise programming job. If you'd rather design training plans or work in cardiac rehab, browse our online exercise physiology degrees instead. Exercise physiology, kinesiology and nutrition are recommended prerequisites here, so the two fields overlap at the edges.

The school is blunt that online doesn't mean easier. It says the format doesn't shorten the degree, it just removes the classroom schedule, and that work conflicts are the biggest single reason students struggle. Year-one students should plan on roughly 35 to 45 hours a week for lectures, reading and exams, plus about 60 to 80 clinical hours per semester.

Courses use Canvas in eight-week sessions. The labs are hands-on weeks of demonstrations and skills practice, and attendance is mandatory. Missing one for any reason can delay graduation. In the fall of year two you'll carry about 15 to 20 hours a week of coursework on top of clinical hours. Spring has no classes.

Who It Fits

• Career changers without a science major. The catalog says no specific undergraduate major is required. You can show prerequisite knowledge in anatomy and physiology, chemistry, physics and psychology through coursework, a program exam passed at 75% or higher, or a professional credential such as nursing. You'll still need 50 observation hours with a licensed athletic trainer.
• People who can arrange one week away, six times. Labs fall in mid-August, mid-October, December, mid-March and mid-May of year one, plus early January of year two. The school says many students keep working through year one.
• Students who may want physical therapy later. Hardin-Simmons offers direct admission from this program into its Doctor of Physical Therapy program if you hold a 3.2 undergraduate GPA and finish the M.A.T. with a 3.5. The path also requires documented community service and an interview in Abilene.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who needs to keep a full-time job in year two. The school says employment that year is strongly discouraged and may be impossible, because clinical placements run more than 30 hours a week.
• Students who want a strength coach or clinical exercise physiologist credential. Graduates sit for the athletic training exam, not the CSCS or ACSM exams. Our best online master's programs in exercise science list fits that goal better.
• Anyone who lives far from a willing preceptor. The school works to place you but says it can't guarantee a site in a specific location.

Year one is heavy on classroom work. The first summer covers Introduction to Professional Practice, Clinically Oriented Anatomy and Fundamentals of Patient Assessment. Fall adds Fundamentals of Therapeutic Intervention, Emergency and Acute Care and Introduction to Clinical Research. Diagnosis and Management I through V then walk through injuries body region by region. All but 4 of the 47 online credits land in the first 13 months.

Year two adds Clinical Decision-Making, Documentation and Reimbursement and Exam Preparation, but mostly it's fieldwork. You complete 20 clinical credits at a high school, at a college or professional team, and in an emerging setting such as military, occupational health, performing arts, a physician office or a hospital. A course worth 4 or more credits counts as immersive, and each clinical credit means at least 30 hours a week.

Courses the School Names

• Clinically Oriented Anatomy
• Fundamentals of Patient Assessment
• Fundamentals of Therapeutic Intervention
• Emergency & Acute Care
• Diagnosis & Management I-V
• Clinical Decision-Making
• Documentation & Reimbursement
• Statistics/Research

Standout Features

• Marketed as the nation's first online Master of Athletic Training program.
• 3-2 pathway: HSU undergraduates can earn a bachelor's and M.A.T. in five years.
• Direct admission path into HSU's Doctor of Physical Therapy program.
• Five Diagnosis and Management courses plus Clinical Decision-Making and Documentation & Reimbursement courses.
• Program states 90% of 2021 and 2022 graduates passed the BOC exam on the first attempt.

Tuition is $595 per credit for 77 credits, which is $45,815. The program page adds a one-time $1,000 program fee, which covers National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) student membership and exam and tracking software, plus general fees of $250 to $1,080 a semester. Hardin-Simmons puts the total at $52,625. More than $1,500 in textbooks come as free e-books.

Budget for extras. Expect about $150 a year for clothing, about $100 for a shoulder pack and tools, $90 a year for NATA dues and $450 for the BOC exam. Travel and lodging for six labs and your clinical months are yours to pay.

Two things don't line up. The general-fee table shows a second column ($550 instead of $1,080), and the university tuition page lists $995 per credit for graduate study, with $595 reserved for online-only programs.

77 credits at $595 a credit comes to $45,815 in tuition, before fees.

The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE), which makes graduates eligible for the Board of Certification (BOC) exam. Hardin-Simmons says 90% of its 2021 and 2022 graduates passed the BOC exam on the first try. That covers two small cohorts, so read it as encouraging, not as a promise for your class.

The ACSM rule (a CAAHEP-accredited program for ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates from August 15, 2027) and the NSCA rule (a CASCE-accredited bachelor's for CSCS candidates from January 1, 2030) don't shape this degree. Your credential here is BOC certification plus a state license.

The school's pages disagree on licensure reach. One paragraph says 49 states regulate athletic training and another says all states, so confirm yours.

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.

• It isn't fully online. Six mandatory weeks in Abilene and a full-time clinical year mean real travel costs and time away from work.
• Year two can't be squeezed around a job. Placements can run past 40 hours a week, and your preceptor and clinical coordinator set the schedule.
• A cohort of 16 and a competitive review mean some qualified applicants don't get in.
• The cost pages conflict, so your real bill may differ from $52,625. The university's federal graduation rate is 46 percent, which says little about this cohort.

• Which general-fee column applies to me, $1,080 or $550 a semester, and can you send an itemized bill that adds up to $52,625?
• Does the $595 online-only graduate rate apply to this hybrid program, given the tuition page lists $995 for other graduate study?
• Where are your nearest placements to my home, and what happens if my region has no site in one of the three required setting types?
• Can I meet the anatomy, chemistry, physics and psychology prerequisites with the program's exams or my current license instead of coursework?
• Does BOC certification from this program lead to licensure in my state, since the program page says both 49 states and all states?
• What was the BOC first-attempt pass rate for your most recent cohort?

Hardin-Simmons is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas with a College of Health Professions. Its School of Kinesiology, Health and Recreation offers an online M.S. in Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation and an online-hybrid Master of Athletic Training.

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