Montreat College Master of Science in Kinesiology (Online)

Montreat's online M.S. in Kinesiology is a 30-credit master's you take one class at a time, built for working adults who want a faith-based approach to coaching, fitness and exercise physiology. Tuition is $18,900 and the pace is about two years. It's a broad kinesiology degree, not a clinical exercise physiology program, and its pages list no programmatic accreditation. Choose it for the schedule and the Christian framing.

Montreat College is a small Christian college in Montreat, North Carolina. This master's comes out of its School of Adult and Graduate Studies, which says it has served working adults for over 30 years. The page address still ends in "-ma," but the degree is a Master of Science.

Ten three-credit courses make up the degree, and each runs eight weeks. Montreat says the program adds a Christian theological view of the human body to the study of movement. Admission asks for a 2.75 GPA over your last 60 undergraduate credit hours, and the school names no required bachelor's major.

The program is 100% online, one eight-week class at a time. Montreat says a typical online class takes less than 10 hours of work per week and can be done at any hour. The next start is October 19 with an enrollment deadline of October 14.

The school's own pages disagree about starts. The program page promises six start dates a year, while the tuition page says fall and spring semesters and adds that a cohort won't start unless enough students enroll. Get your start date confirmed in writing before you plan around it.

Who It Fits

• Coaches and trainers who want a master's without leaving their teams or gyms. Principles of Coaching and Leading has you write your own athlete-centered coaching philosophy, and Exercise and Fitness Education covers working with adults and special populations.
• Students who want faith built into the degree. The ethics course examines biblical principles of leadership, and the fitness education description talks about wellness as "an act of responsible creation."
• Military and veteran students who want a Christian college. Montreat accepts VA benefits under Chapters 30, 33 and 35. The military master's rate is $630 per credit, the same as everyone else pays, so the value is in the benefits, not a discount.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you're aiming at clinical exercise physiologist work. The pages list no clinical hours or programmatic accreditation, and starting August 15, 2027, candidates for the ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP (American College of Sports Medicine exercise physiologist exams) must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program (Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs).
• Skip it if you want a fast finish. Montreat calls one class per term a full-time load, and that path takes two years.
• Skip it if you want hands-on lab or clinic time. The only lab is a virtual one inside the fitness testing course, and no internship is listed.

Count the science and it's a short list. Advanced Exercise Physiology covers bioenergetics, lactate metabolism, cardiovascular and pulmonary responses and hormone changes. Sports Nutrition takes on ergogenic aids, disordered eating and fluid balance. Fitness Testing and Exercise Prescription for Special Populations pairs lectures with a virtual lab.

The rest leans toward coaching and administration: Ethics and Leadership, Principles of Coaching and Leading, Legal Aspects of Kinesiology (contract, labor and antitrust law), Sport and Exercise Psychology, and Research Methods with basic statistics.

The capstone, Applied Knowledge in Kinesiology, is a comprehensive exam, a research project or a thesis. Project and thesis students give a presentation. The testing course lists the ethics course as a prerequisite, so that one comes early.

Courses the School Names

• KINE 5010 Ethics and Leadership in Kinesiology
• KINE 5025 Principles of Coaching and Leading
• KINE 5030 Exercise and Fitness Education
• KINE 5040 Legal Aspects of Kinesiology
• KINE 5050 Advanced Exercise Physiology
• KINE 5060 Sports Nutrition
• KINE 5070 Advanced Study of Sport and Exercise Psychology
• KINE 5080 Research Methods in Kinesiology
• KINE 5090 Fitness Testing and Exercise Prescription for Special Populations
• KINE 6000 Applied Knowledge in Kinesiology (Capstone)

Standout Features

• Christian theological foundation for the study of human movement
• Virtual lab component in Fitness Testing and Exercise Prescription for Special Populations
• Choice of exam, project or thesis capstone

Graduate tuition is $630 per credit hour for 2026-27, so 30 credits comes to $18,900. Fees add $250 per semester and a $100 graduation fee. Montreat's cost table for a full-time online graduate year lists $750 in fees and $1,008 for books and supplies.

Using $750 in fees for each of two years plus the graduation fee, you'd pay about $20,500 before books. Montreat graduates with a 3.0 GPA get a $1,000 alumni scholarship, split across the first two terms, and employees of select North Carolina partner companies get 10% off tuition.

30 credits at $630 a credit comes to $18,900 in tuition, before fees.

Montreat is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, an institutional accreditor. No programmatic accreditation is listed for this degree, and the program page makes no certification claims.

The FAQ names exercise physiologist among its fields. That title runs through ACSM, and its exams now expect a CAAHEP-accredited program. The rule for the CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) starting January 1, 2030 is about your bachelor's degree, so a master's here doesn't change it. Read our accreditation guide before you count on any credential.

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 pace is slow. Montreat's two-year plan is one class per term for ten terms.
• It's broad rather than deep. Three courses are exercise science, and the others cover coaching, law, ethics, psychology and research.
• The program page lists careers such as licensed clinical professional counselor and occupational counselor, which look borrowed from a counseling degree. The FAQ lists strength coach, exercise physiologist and physical education teacher, and only that list fits the courses.
• Fees add up. Two years of semester fees plus graduation come to $1,600 on top of tuition.

• Does the six-starts-a-year schedule on the program page apply to the master's, or does the fall-and-spring cohort rule on the tuition page? What happens if a cohort doesn't fill?
• Which career list is right for this degree, and can you connect me with graduates who now work as coaches or exercise physiologists?
• Has Montreat started the CAAHEP process for this program, through a formal inquiry or a Request for Accreditation Services?
• Is the $250 student fee charged in all three semesters each year, and does it apply between eight-week terms?
• How do the exam, research project and thesis capstones differ in workload, and when do I have to choose one?
• If my bachelor's isn't in exercise science, do I need prerequisite science before Advanced Exercise Physiology?
• Will Montreat accept transfer credit from another graduate program into these 30 credits?

Small Christian college in Montreat, North Carolina whose School of Adult and Graduate Studies has served adult students for over 30 years; online programs use 8-week courses with six starts a year.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 62 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 62 of 99, master's
• Best Online Kinesiology Degrees Rank 14 of 28, master's
• Best Online Kinesiology Master's Rank 14 of 28, master's
• Accelerated Online Programs Rank 40 of 46, master's
• Best for Military Students Rank 17 of 35, master's
• Best for Working Adults Rank 37 of 50, master's
• Best for Coaches Rank 26 of 43, master's
• Best Christian Programs Rank 22 of 27, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 50 of 78, master's
• Best Online Programs in North Carolina Rank 2 of 5, master's

• Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology (Online)

  B.S., Bachelor's

  Fully Online $445 per credit Score 47.5

• Lenoir-Rhyne University

  Exercise Science, M.S.

  North Carolina $550 per credit Score 50.2

• Culver-Stockton College

  Master of Athletic Training (MAT)

  Missouri $415 per credit Score 49.3

• Florida Atlantic University

  Master of Science in Exercise Science and Health Promotion

  Florida $1,125.06 per credit Score 49.3

• Lindenwood University

  Strength and Conditioning, MS

  Missouri $595 per credit Score 50.6