McNeese State University Online Kinesiology, M.S.

McNeese State's M.S. in Kinesiology is a 33-credit public university degree with two concentrations, Health and Wellness Promotion and Sports Performance, and no GRE. It's a better match for someone who already studied kinesiology than for a career changer, because admission asks for a related major or minor plus exercise physiology and tests and measures. Nothing here points to certification prep or CAAHEP accreditation.

McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana, part of the University of Louisiana System. Its H.C. Drew School of Kinesiology teaches this master's through the William J. Doré, Sr. School of Graduate Studies.

The program page lists the degree as available in person and online, and the university's online programs list includes Kinesiology as a Master of Science with online delivery. The Health and Wellness Promotion catalog page says it's offered both face-to-face and 100% online. The Sports Performance page doesn't repeat that sentence.

Both concentrations share admission rules and end with a comprehensive exam instead of a thesis.

McNeese says you can earn a graduate degree while working full time on your own schedule, and it lists six graduate programs that are 100% online. The Kinesiology M.S. is on that list. Ask how terms are structured and how many times a year you can start.

The applied pieces are the internship and the exit exam. KNES 659 puts you at an approved health and wellness or sports performance site, supervised by an on-site employee and a faculty member, for at least 120 hours. Also plan for your final semester. Students take KNES 699 then, and the course description says it tests what you learned across the program.

Who It Fits

• Kinesiology or health and human performance graduates who want a master's without a thesis. You need a major or minor in the field, and the degree ends with a written exam rather than a research project.
• Wellness and health promotion staff. The Health and Wellness Promotion concentration includes program planning, program evaluation, health risk behavior analysis and analysis of health care delivery systems.
• Coaches and strength staff. The Sports Performance concentration adds The Physiological Basis of Human Performance, Mechanical Analysis of Sports Skills and Advanced Physiology of Exercise.
• Students who can arrange a 120-hour internship near home. KNES 659 requires a minimum of 120 hours at an approved site.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if your bachelor's is in an unrelated field. Admission asks for a major or minor in health and human performance, kinesiology or something close, plus three hours each of exercise physiology and tests and measures.
• Skip it if you need the ACSM-EP or ACSM-CEP certification after August 15, 2027. Candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program, and neither McNeese page lists CAAHEP accreditation.
• Skip it if you want live instruction, a lab course or cohort classmates. The catalog lists lecture courses and describes the exit exam as the final step.

The catalog lists two paths. Both begin with KNES 600 Research Methods in Kinesiology, KNES 601 Independent Study, KNES 611 Measurements in Health and Physical Education, KNES 616 Critical Analysis of Professional Literature and KNES 622 Problems in Kinesiology.

Health and Wellness Promotion adds KNES 631 Health Risk Behavior Analysis, KNES 637 Analysis of Health Care Delivery Systems, KNES 638 Program Planning in Health Promotion and KNES 658 Program Evaluation in Health Promotion.

Sports Performance adds KNES 606 The Physiological Basis of Human Performance, KNES 618 Mechanical Analysis of Sports Skills, KNES 650 Advanced Physiology of Exercise and KNES 655 Advanced Therapeutic Exercise and Rehabilitation. KNES 655 covers therapeutic exercise for specific patient populations. KNES 606 lists prerequisites of BIOL 225 and an undergraduate exercise physiology course.

KNES 659 is the internship, and KNES 699 is a zero-credit comprehensive exam taken in the final semester. It's the program's exit exam.

Courses the School Names

• KNES 600 Research Methods in Kinesiology
• KNES 611 Measurements in Health and Physical Education
• KNES 616 Critical Analysis of Professional Literature
• KNES 631 Health Risk Behavior Analysis
• KNES 637 Analysis of Health Care Delivery Systems
• KNES 638 Program Planning in Health Promotion
• KNES 658 Program Evaluation in Health Promotion
• KNES 659 Internship in Health and Wellness Promotion or Sports Performance
• KNES 606 The Physiological Basis of Human Performance
• KNES 618 Mechanical Analysis of Sports Skills
• KNES 650 Advanced Physiology of Exercise
• KNES 655 Advanced Therapeutic Exercise and Rehabilitation

Standout Features

• No GRE required

McNeese is a public university, and this is a 33-credit degree, so your total depends on the current graduate per-credit rate. Ask McNeese's Student Central office for that rate in writing before you apply, and ask whether it differs for Louisiana residents.

One cost lever is worth knowing. McNeese lets graduating seniors with a 3.2 cumulative GPA and fewer than 30 hours left on their bachelor's take graduate courses at undergraduate tuition, up to one-third of a master's degree. The catch is that those credits can't count toward the bachelor's. If you're a current McNeese undergraduate in kinesiology, this is a real way to lower your bill.

McNeese holds institutional accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The program pages list no programmatic accreditation and no certification exam prep.

Two rules matter if you're heading toward a credential. From August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accredited program, or one in the process.

From January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates for the CSCS need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program. That rule is about your undergraduate degree. See our accreditation guide if you're not sure which applies.

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 coursework is lecture-based. The catalog lists no lab course, so you won't get hands-on testing practice outside the internship.
• The catalog lists ten 3-credit courses plus a 3-hour elective and a zero-credit exam for each concentration. That adds up to 33 only if every listed course is required, so the page is unclear about what's a choice.
• Online status is stated clearly for Health and Wellness Promotion but not for Sports Performance.
• McNeese's federal six-year graduation rate is 47 percent. That covers the whole university, not this master's, and it's the only outcome number we have.
• The internship needs an approved local site and at least 120 hours, which is hard to fit around a full-time job.

• What's the current per-credit graduate tuition and fee total for online students, and does it differ for Louisiana residents?
• Is the Sports Performance concentration fully online, and are any courses or exams given on campus?
• Which of the listed KNES courses are required and which are choices, and how many credits are the concentration courses?
• How do online students find and get approval for a KNES 659 internship site, and can it be my current job?
• How is the KNES 699 comprehensive exam given to online students, and how often can I retake it?
• If my bachelor's isn't in kinesiology, can I take the exercise physiology and tests and measures prerequisites at another school?
• How many times a year can I start, and how long do online students usually take?

Public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana, part of the University of Louisiana System; its H.C. Drew School of Kinesiology offers B.S. concentrations in health performance studies and pre-professional tracks plus the M.S. in Kinesiology.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 86 of 99, master's
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• Best Online Sport Science Degrees Rank 15 of 17, master's
• No-GRE Online Master's Programs Rank 39 of 44, master's
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• Best Online Programs in Louisiana Rank 3 of 3, master's

• California State University, Bakersfield

  Master of Science in Kinesiology (Online)

  California $651 per credit Score 41.3

• East Carolina University

  Kinesiology, M.S. (online: Physical Education [pedagogy] concentration)

  North Carolina $1,044.06 per credit Score 41.8

• Salem University

  Master of Science in Health and Human Performance (MSHHP)

  West Virginia $650 per credit Score 41.8

• Logan University

  Master of Science in Sports Science & Rehabilitation (MSSSR)

  Missouri $700 per credit Score 40.8