Southern Utah University Online Master of Science in Sports Conditioning and Performance (MSSCP)

Southern Utah's online M.S. in Sports Conditioning and Performance is a strength and conditioning master's at $393 per credit, or $12,969 for 33 credits. It's built for coaches, trainers and athletic staff who can spend two weeks in Cedar City for hands-on labs. The on-campus session isn't optional, the research project can stretch your timeline, and the recognition it advertises comes from an NSCA program that has since been replaced.

Southern Utah University is a public university in Cedar City, and this master's sits in its Department of Kinesiology and Outdoor Recreation. You earn 33 credits: six required courses, four of five electives and an applied research project of at least three credits. The page says it's designed for busy working professionals like coaches, personal trainers and athletic trainers.

You can enter with a bachelor's in physical education, exercise science or sports medicine. You can also enter with any bachelor's plus a fitness certification such as CSCS, NSCA-CPT or ACSM-CPT, or with a bachelor's that includes exercise physiology and biomechanics. SUU asks for a 3.0 GPA in your last 60 semester hours, and says it may admit you if you explain how you'll succeed.

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

Most courses are online, and most electives are offered in one term only, so the calendar partly sets your order. You begin in fall or spring. Apply by October 15, 2026 for spring or July 15, 2027 for fall.

KIN 6080 is now the first course everyone takes, and you also enroll in one credit of KIN 6933 that semester. Faculty pair you with a project advisor by the second session. Then you stay enrolled in at least one credit of KIN 6933 each fall and spring until the project is finished, and you need at least three credits in all.

On campus, the June 2027 courses meet weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in three blocks, then finish with online assignments through the end of June. You have six years to graduate.

Who It Fits

• Coaches and trainers who already hold a bachelor's in any field and a certification. The certification pathway means you don't need an exercise science degree to apply.
• Anyone comparing prices. SUU appears on our cheapest degrees list, and Utah residents may apply for a tuition waiver.
• People who want to coach lifts in person. The summer labs teach resistance training technique, including the squat, power clean and deadlift, and sport fitness testing, with an instructor watching you.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who can't travel to Cedar City. The two-week summer session is mandatory. The online strength and conditioning degrees list has other options.
• Students headed toward clinical work. There's no internship or clinical hours, no CAAHEP status on SUU's pages, and the courses center on athletes and performance.
• Anyone who wants to start in summer. SUU stopped admitting summer starts in Fall 2025, so you begin in fall or spring.

KIN 6000 Foundations of Sport Conditioning covers training principles and adaptations. KIN 6040 Designing Resistance Training Programs walks you through a needs analysis for an individual athlete. KIN 6080 Introduction to Sport Science Research and Statistics teaches you to read and critique research and design your own.

The three summer courses are the hands-on core. KIN 6010 Advanced Techniques of Sport Conditioning is an intensive on conditioning athletes of various ages. KIN 6050 Resistance Training Technique covers coaching the major lifts. KIN 6060 Evaluation in Sport Fitness covers testing speed, power, strength, endurance and functional movement.

You choose four of five electives: Special Topics and Issues, Athletic Training and Sports Medicine, Psychological Aspects of Sport Performance and Conditioning, Motor Skill Acquisition, and Bioenergetics and Sport Nutrition. The applied research project, KIN 6933, was called a thesis until Fall 2026. One credit should equal about 45 hours of work.

Courses the School Names

• KIN 6000 Foundations of Sport Conditioning
• KIN 6010 Advanced Techniques of Sport Conditioning
• KIN 6040 Designing Resistance Training Programs
• KIN 6050 Resistance Training Technique
• KIN 6060 Evaluation in Sport Fitness
• KIN 6080 Introduction to Sport Science Research and Statistics
• KIN 6030 Athletic Training and Sports Medicine
• KIN 6070 Psychological Aspects of Sport Performance and Conditioning
• KIN 6100 Bioenergetics and Sport Nutrition

Standout Features

• Only NSCA ERP-approved graduate program in Utah; one of 17 graduate programs with ERP approval in 2016
• Hands-on summer labs in resistance training technique and sport fitness evaluation
• Grad Path: current SUU undergraduates can take up to 6 graduate credits at undergraduate rates

Online graduate tuition for this program is $393 per credit in 2026-27, capped at $5,502 per semester once you reach 14 credits. Over 33 credits that's $12,969. The three summer campus courses are 9 credits, or $3,537 of that total.

Add travel and a place to stay for June 1 to 11, 2027. SUU's page quotes $340 for furnished off-campus housing through a local property manager, including a $100 security deposit.

Current SUU undergraduates can take up to six graduate credits at undergraduate rates through Grad Path, and SUU accepts up to 12 transfer credits when the content matches.

33 credits at $393 a credit comes to $12,969 in tuition, before fees.

SUU says the program received NSCA Education Recognition Program approval in November 2016, when it was one of 17 graduate programs with that status. NSCA no longer publishes an ERP list. Its current program is CASCE accreditation, and SUU isn't on the CASCE list we pulled on September 29, 2026. Nothing on SUU's pages lists CAAHEP.

That matters less for a master's. NSCA's rule starting January 1, 2030 requires a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program for the CSCS exam, so it applies to the degree behind your exam. ACSM's exercise physiologist exams require a CAAHEP-accredited degree from August 15, 2027, and this program isn't built for that route. SUU's federal graduation rate is 61 percent for the whole university.

Where this degree can lead: Strength and Conditioning Coach Careers.

• The two weeks on campus can't be skipped, and travel and housing come on top of tuition.
• The project has no fixed end date. You stay enrolled in KIN 6933 each fall and spring until it's done, at $393 a credit.
• SUU's pages disagree on KIN 6080. The course table asks for 9 program hours first, the timeline says 12 credits, and the newest note makes it your first course. They also count six required courses in one place and seven in another.
• The NSCA recognition dates from 2016, and NSCA has moved to a different accreditation program.

• Which rule for KIN 6080 applies to me, and can I take it and KIN 6933 in my first semester?
• If my project runs past three credits, what does each extra semester cost?
• Can I spread the three summer lab courses over different summers, and how many summers will that take?
• Which fees are billed on top of $393 per credit for online students?
• Do I qualify for the Utah tuition waiver, and how do I apply?
• Has the program applied for CASCE accreditation or started the CAAHEP process?
• Which of my graduate credits would count toward the 12-credit transfer limit?

Southern Utah University in Cedar City, UT houses a Department of Kinesiology and Outdoor Recreation in its College of Health Sciences, and runs an NSCA-recognized online strength and conditioning master's with a summer campus component.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 6 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 6 of 99, master's
• Best Online Strength and Conditioning Degrees Rank 3 of 39, master's
• Cheapest Online Programs Rank 6 of 15, master's
• Best for Personal Trainers Rank 4 of 32, master's
• Best for Coaches Rank 3 of 43, master's
• Best Certification-Ready Programs Rank 6 of 13, master's

Also at Southern Utah University, but not counted here because they are not fully online: Exercise Science (bachelor's, on campus).

• Liberty University

  Master of Science in Human Performance

  Virginia $600 per credit Score 68.8

• Liberty University

  Master of Science in Exercise Science and Wellness

  Virginia $600 per credit Score 69.8

• Texas State University

  Master of Science, Major in Exercise Science, Sport Coaching Concentration

  Texas $502 per credit Score 67.6

• Ouachita Baptist University

  Master of Science in Exercise Science (online)

  Arkansas $500 per credit Score 67.4