Salem University Online Master of Science in Health and Human Performance (MSHHP)

Salem's online Master of Science in Health and Human Performance is a fast, one-course-at-a-time master's for coaches, trainers and fitness staff who already hold a bachelor's. You can finish 36 credits in as little as 12 months for $23,400 in tuition, with no GRE.

Pick it for the strength and conditioning or coaching coursework and the speed. Don't pick it expecting the master's to settle CSCS eligibility, because Salem's own pages describe that link two different ways.

Salem University is a private for-profit school in Salem, West Virginia, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1963. The MSHHP is 100% online and built around the National Strength and Conditioning Association's standards, according to the catalog. It's a 36-credit degree with a 21-credit core and a 15-credit specialization.

You choose Strength and Conditioning or Sports Coaching Education. Salem says the program is built for coaches, trainers and fitness professionals moving into advanced roles. Federal data counts 6 awards a year in this field at Salem, so cohorts are small.

Salem's institutional accreditor is the Higher Learning Commission. Salem claims no programmatic accreditation for the MSHHP, and neither CAAHEP nor CASCE lists it in the data we pulled on September 29, 2026.

The program page says the Strength and Conditioning track is aligned with the NSCA's CSCS body of knowledge and that completing it does not guarantee certification or exam eligibility. The catalog is bolder, saying students will be prepared to sit for the CSCS exam. The CSCS is a separate NSCA exam, and a bachelor's degree is the eligibility gate today.

HHP613 also lists preparation for the National Association of Speed and Explosion's Speed and Explosion Specialist certificate.

Where this degree can lead: Exercise Science Jobs.

Who It Fits

• Coaches and trainers who want a master's without leaving work. You take one course at a time, with multiple rolling start dates a year, so you don't wait on a traditional semester calendar.
• Military students and veterans. The active-duty and veteran graduate rate is $495 per credit, against $650 for everyone else.
• Applicants who dislike entrance tests. Salem asks for a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited school and official transcripts, and states that no GRE or GMAT is required.
• Anyone in Strength and Conditioning who needs a supervised placement. That track ends with a 3-credit practical experience with athletes.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if your bachelor's isn't from a CASCE-accredited program and you want the CSCS after January 1, 2030. NSCA will require, for U.S. candidates, a bachelor's from a program accredited by Collegiate Accreditation for Strength and Conditioning Education. A later master's doesn't replace that.
• Skip it if you want a clinical exercise physiology degree. ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program from August 15, 2027, and this one isn't accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.
• Skip it if you want research training beyond one course. Research Methods & Capstone is a single 3-credit class.

The 21-credit core is seven courses: HHP600 Human Movement Science, HHP601 Biomechanics for Sport and Exercise, HHP602 Fundamentals of Nutrition Science, HHP603 Exercise and Sport Psychology, HHP604 Movement & Skill Acquisition, HHP605 Advanced Exercise Physiology and HHP606 Research Methods in Health and Human Performance/Capstone.

In HHP606 you learn research design, statistical analysis, mock proposals and data evaluation, then submit a capstone project.

Strength and Conditioning adds HHP610 Sports Needs Analysis, Movement Screening & Assessment, HHP611 and HHP612 (labeled NSCA CSCS Prep courses 1 and 2), HHP613 Power and Speed for Sports Performance and HHP614, the practical experience. Sports Coaching Education adds five classes: Foundations of Sport Coaching, Psychology of Coaching, Analysis of Sport Performance for Coaches, Ethics and Diversity in Sport Coaching, and Contemporary Issues in Sport Coaching.

Courses the School Names

• Human Movement Science & Biomechanics
• Advanced Exercise Physiology
• Exercise and Sport Psychology
• Movement & Skill Acquisition
• Fundamentals of Nutrition Science
• Research Methods & Capstone
• Sports Needs Analysis, Movement Screening & Assessment
• Power and Speed for Sports Performance
• Psychology of Coaching
• Analysis of Sport Performance for Coaches

Standout Features

• Two specializations: Strength and Conditioning (two courses labeled NSCA CSCS Prep) and Sports Coaching Education
• Finish in as little as 12 months taking one course per month
• Tuition lock: per-credit rate fixed for students starting Oct 27, 2025 or later with continuous enrollment

Graduate tuition for the MSHHP is $650 per credit in 2026-27, which is $23,400 for 36 credits. At the military rate of $495, the same degree is $17,820.

Expect these on top: $150 student activity and $150 technology fees each semester, a $120 textbook charge per course with an opt-out, and a $200 graduation fee. With 12 courses, the textbook charge alone can reach $1,440. Salem's tuition lock holds your per-credit rate steady if you started on or after October 27, 2025 and enroll every fall and spring. Books and fees can still rise.

36 credits at $650 a credit comes to $23,400 in tuition, before fees.

Courses are typically four weeks and three credits, so a student who takes one a month finishes the 12 courses in a year. Salem says many similar programs take 18 to 24 months and that your timeline depends on pace and transfer credit.

Every applicant gets a dedicated admissions advisor from first inquiry, and enrolled online students get a student success advisor. The Strength and Conditioning practical experience means arranging a placement working with athletes, so plan that course early. Coaching students have no placement course.

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

• The pages contradict each other. The program page names HHP614 Practical Internship Experience, and the catalog calls it Practical Laboratory Experience at an NSCA-accredited facility with the approved-site list left blank.
• The CSCS language differs by document. The web page disclaims any guarantee, while the catalog says the specialization prepares you to sit for the exam.
• Salem is for-profit, and IPEDS shows only 6 awards a year in this field, so the graduating class is small. Ask how many students share your track and who teaches the courses.
• The $23,400 sticker excludes semester fees, textbook charges and the graduation fee, so budget above it.

• Which sites count for HHP614, is the placement mine to arrange, and what happens if I can't find an approved facility near me?
• Does completing the Strength and Conditioning track make me eligible for the CSCS, given the web page and the catalog say different things?
• Is there a minimum GPA, and does conditional admission exist? The page says to ask an advisor about both.
• How many transfer credits will Salem take into the 36-credit degree?
• How many semesters will my one-course-a-month plan span, since the $150 activity and $150 technology fees repeat each semester?
• Who are the full-time faculty for the exercise physiology and coaching courses, and are courses taught by adjuncts?

Salem University is a small private for-profit university in Salem, WV, on a 100-acre Appalachian campus, with online programs delivered one course per month. It offers an online MS in Health and Human Performance and a biology bachelor's with a physiology and exercise science specialization.

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