Tarleton State University Online Kinesiology, Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS)

Tarleton's online B.A.A.S. in Kinesiology is a degree-completion path for people who already have an applied associate degree, certifications, technical training or military credit and want a bachelor's. It's flexible, and the school says prior learning credit can cut cost and time.

But it isn't an exercise science degree in the usual sense. Only 24 of the 120 credits are kinesiology courses, and Tarleton's own pages give four different limits for prior learning credit.

Tarleton State University is a public school in Stephenville, Texas, in the Texas A&M University System. The B.A.A.S. sits in its College of Kinesiology and Sport Science and is accredited through the university's regional accreditor, SACSCOC.

The program page says it's designed for students with relevant prior learning (certifications, technical training, workforce education, military credit) or applied associate degrees. There are no formal concentrations. You build an individualized plan with an advisor around your prior coursework and career goals.

The admissions list asks for a completed applied associate degree, Tarleton's transfer admission requirements, official transcripts and Texas Success Initiative requirements where they apply.

The advising guide says the degree is offered at Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco and online, and Tarleton's online programs list includes it. Tarleton says online students receive the same degree as those who attended in person.

Application deadlines are August 1 for fall, December 1 for spring and June 1 for summer. The guide notes that course rotation and availability may vary by location, and it marks most electives as varying by semester, so your advisor's plan matters.

The guide's footnotes mention a law enforcement personal history report and a criminal justice advisor, which looks like text from another degree's guide. Ask who the kinesiology advisor is for online students.

Who It Fits

• Fitness and health workers with an AAS or workforce training who need a bachelor's to move up. The school says most students in this degree are working professionals, and that the bachelor's opens the door to graduate or professional school.
• Military members and veterans. Tarleton's credit for prior learning page says military experience, documented on an ACE Smart Transcript, Joint Services Transcript or Community College of the Air Force record, can earn credit.
• People who want a flexible plan instead of a fixed concentration. Two named courses are required, and the rest of the kinesiology credits come from advanced electives you choose with your advisor.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants a degree built around exercise physiology, testing and programming. See the certification-ready online degrees instead.
• Students who have no technical training or applied associate degree. The advising guide expects at least 33 semester hours of prior learning. Look at other degree-completion programs.
• Pre-physical therapy students. The plan doesn't list lab sciences beyond general education.

The catalog splits the 120 credits into 42 of general education, KINE 3330 Motor Behavior, KINE 3360 Sports Nutrition, 18 advanced kinesiology electives, 6 advanced electives in any subject, 12 to 45 for prior learning and 3 to 36 in general electives. That puts 24 credits in kinesiology courses you take at Tarleton. The rest is core and what you bring with you.

The advising guide lays it out by semester. You start with English, history and government, add advanced kinesiology electives from your second year, and finish with a final year listed as 33 credits of prior learning. KINE 3330 lists department head approval as a prerequisite.

Your advisor picks which advanced electives fit. The B.S. catalog lists courses like Physiology of Exercise, Corrective Exercise Training and Program Design for Special Populations, so ask which are open to online students. Nothing in this plan names anatomy and physiology.

Courses the School Names

• KINE 3330 Motor Behavior
• KINE 3360 Sports Nutrition

Standout Features

• Degree-completion pathway for applied associate degree holders, certifications, workforce training and military credit
• Individualized degree plan with no formal concentrations

Tarleton doesn't publish an online price for this degree. Its tuition estimator builds one from your residency, tuition plan and course load.

The 2026-27 catalog lists on-campus undergraduate tuition of $199.92 per hour for Texas residents on the guaranteed plan, $183.71 on the variable plan and $611.71 for non-residents. A University Services Fee of $96.01 per hour funds services that include distance education, and differential tuition is extra. The Division of Health Sciences differential on the guaranteed plan is $53.90 per hour.

Prior learning is where the savings are. The school says credit for prior learning can save 30% on degree cost and cut a year from full-time study. Ask whether that credit carries a fee.

Tarleton is accredited by SACSCOC, and the kinesiology pages list no programmatic accreditation for this degree. The school doesn't list certification prep for the B.A.A.S., though its B.S. page does.

Personal trainer exams don't need a degree. Today the CSCS needs a bachelor's plus CPR/AED. From January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program, and Tarleton isn't on the CASCE list we pulled on September 29, 2026.

From August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program, and Tarleton isn't on that list either. Tarleton's B.S. in Exercise and Sport Physiology is on-campus only, in Stephenville. The university's federal graduation rate is 48 percent.

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.

• Prior learning limits disagree. The catalog says 12 to 45 hours, the advising guide says 12 to 33 with a 33-hour minimum, the credit for prior learning page says up to 36, and the applied degrees page says up to 90.
• The overview says applied associate degrees and prior learning both qualify, but the admissions list requires a completed applied associate degree.
• No online per-credit price is published, so you can't total the cost until you use the estimator.
• Only 24 credits are kinesiology courses, so the degree is closer to a general bachelor's with a kinesiology label than to exercise science.

• Do I need a completed AAS, or can certifications and military training alone qualify me for admission?
• How many prior learning hours would you award me, given the 12-to-45, 33 and 36-hour figures on Tarleton's pages?
• Does credit for prior learning carry a fee, and is it billed at the tuition rate?
• What's my exact online cost per credit as a Texas resident or a non-resident?
• Which advanced kinesiology electives are open to online students, and can I take Physiology of Exercise?
• When and how do I get the department head approval listed for KINE 3330?
• Who is the kinesiology B.A.A.S. advisor for online students?

Public Texas A&M University System institution in Stephenville with additional sites in Fort Worth, Waco and RELLIS. Its College of Kinesiology and Sport Science houses kinesiology, exercise and sport physiology, coaching, sport management and athletic training programs.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 38 of 46, bachelor's
• Best Online Bachelor's Programs Rank 38 of 46, bachelor's
• Best Online Kinesiology Degrees Rank 15 of 18, bachelor's
• Best Degree Completion Programs Rank 29 of 34, bachelor's
• Best for Personal Trainers Rank 27 of 33, bachelor's
• Best Online Programs in Texas Rank 5 of 6, bachelor's

• Kinesiology, B.S.

  B.S., Bachelor's

  Online With Campus Requirements Score 55.0

Also at Tarleton State University, but not counted here because they are not fully online: Kinesiology, M.S. (Exercise Science concentration) (master's, hybrid); Exercise & Sport Physiology, B.S. (bachelor's, on campus).

• Concordia University Texas

  Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology

  Texas $550 per credit Score 43.9

• North Carolina Central University

  Kinesiology (Online), B.S., Fitness and Wellness Concentration

  North Carolina $727.67 per credit Score 43.3

• Bryan University

  Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, Fitness, and Nutrition Management (Completion Degree)

  Arizona Score 46.6

• Eastern Oregon University

  Bachelor of Science/Arts in Health & Human Performance, Exercise Science Concentration

  Oregon $338 per quarter credit Score 46.7