Tennessee Technological University Online Curriculum and Instruction, Ed.S. (Exercise Science Concentration)

Tennessee Tech's online Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction with an Exercise Science concentration is a post-master's education degree with a wellness theme, not a physiology degree. It's 30 semester hours beyond your master's, which works out to $22,260 for a Tennessee resident at the general graduate rate. It fits teachers and wellness educators. It's a weak fit if you want clinical or performance training.

Tennessee Technological University is a public university in Cookeville. This specialist degree is awarded through the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and the Department of Exercise Science's chair advises on the concentration. The school describes it as an entirely online degree that prepares graduates to teach the importance and benefits of healthy lifestyles through wellness education programs.

An Ed.S. is a post-master's degree that sits between a master's and a doctorate. It isn't a doctorate, though some lists on this site group it with doctoral programs. Tennessee Tech's separate Ph.D. in this area is offered on campus, so this online specialist degree is the only version you can do from home.

Tennessee Tech calls this an entirely online degree, and no campus requirement is stated. Because the plan is advisor-built, you'll shape a lot of it in conversations. The catalog lets you substitute courses with approval from your advisory committee, the department chair, and the dean, and at least 15 of the 30 hours must be at the 7000 level.

The lab and field courses are described as supervised practicums, observation, simulation, internships, and externships in education, so expect them to involve classrooms or programs where you work. CUED 7910 is study on an individual basis, which means your pace depends on your advisor as much as the calendar.

Who It Fits

• You already hold a master's with at least a 3.0 GPA and you teach or lead physical activity or wellness programs. The required courses on learning theory, policy, and physical education pedagogy suit classroom and program leaders.
• You want an advanced credential without a dissertation. The research piece is one 3-credit course, CUED 7910 Advanced Research Project in Education, done on an individual basis with your advisor.
• You want a say in your own plan. The catalog describes the program as tailored to the needs and objectives of the individual student, and you choose one field course in educational technology, grant writing, or autoethnography.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you want hands-on exercise science. Only one required course, EXPW 6440 Physiology of Exercise, is about the body. The rest is education theory, pedagogy, and research.
• Skip it if you're aiming at ACSM-EP, ACSM-CEP, or CSCS eligibility. Those credentials turn on accredited exercise science degrees, and this concentration lists no accreditation of that kind.
• Skip it if you don't have a master's yet. Full admission is based on your graduate GPA, and Tennessee Tech's online M.A. in Exercise Science is the earlier step.

The catalog calls for 30 hours: 21 in the concentration core, 3 in research, and 6 in advisor-guided electives. The core has seven courses. CUED 7010 Learning Theories, FOED 7020 Philosophy and Public Policy, EXPW 6600 Special Topics, EXPW 6440 Physiology of Exercise, EXPW 7000 Current Issues in EXPW/EDUH, EXPW 7010 Pedagogical Theory of Physical Education, and one of three lab and field courses.

The lab and field choices are CUED 7801 on educational technology, CUED 7802 on grant writing, and CUED 7803 on autoethnography. Each is 3 credits and needs your advisor's consent and advanced graduate standing. EXPW 6440 is the physiology course, and its description covers the acute and chronic effects of physical activity with reference to exercise evaluation and prescription.

Electives come from a long subject list that includes EXPW and EDUH courses but also music education, library science, and agricultural education. If you have no research methods course on your transcript, EXPW 6510 Research Methods takes the place of one elective.

Standout Features

• Offered as an entirely online degree through the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, with physiology, learning theory and research

Tennessee Tech's Graduate Studies page lists 2026-2027 graduate tuition at $742 per credit hour for Tennessee residents, $882 for domestic out-of-state students, and $1,468 for international students. The program page doesn't publish a specialist rate. The catalog supplies the credit count, so 30 hours comes to $22,260, $26,460, or $44,040 at those three rates.

Fees come on top. The exercise science department's Ed.S. page says to ask about graduate assistantships, and Graduate Studies says about one graduate student in three holds a paid assistantship university-wide. You apply through the department that admits you, so ask whether online students are considered.

30 credits at $882 a credit comes to $26,460 in tuition, before fees. At the in-state rate of $742, the same 30 credits come to $22,260.

Tennessee Tech is accredited by SACSCOC, the regional accreditor for Southern colleges, to award educational specialist degrees among others. The Exercise Science concentration lists no programmatic accreditation, and the department's Ed.S. page doesn't claim one.

That matters for the two rule changes on the credentials side. ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP, the American College of Sports Medicine's exercise physiologist exams, will need a CAAHEP-accredited program from August 15, 2027. The NSCA's CSCS exam will need a CASCE-accredited bachelor's for U.S. candidates from January 1, 2030. This degree doesn't build toward either path, and it comes after a bachelor's anyway.

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 department page promises an extensive background in physiology studies. The required list in the catalog shows one course with physiology in its title. Ask what else supports that claim.
• The credit count isn't on the program page. It appears only in the catalog, which is easy to miss when you compare programs.
• The tuition rate is the general graduate rate, not one published for this program, and fees are extra.
• Your electives can drift far from exercise science. The subject list includes agricultural education and music, so how exercise-focused your degree becomes depends on your advisor.
• None of the three field course topics is fitness, clinical, or sport based. They're education topics.

• Which of my elective courses can come from EXPW and EDUH so the degree stays close to exercise science?
• Is tuition for this Ed.S. the general graduate rate of $742 or $882 per credit, and which fees apply to online students?
• Which of the three field courses do exercise science students usually take, and can I complete it where I work?
• Do I need EXPW 6510 Research Methods first, and does it replace one of my electives?
• How long do part-time students take to finish 30 hours, and how often is each 7000-level course offered?
• Are online Ed.S. students eligible for the department's assistantships?

Public university in Cookeville, Tennessee. Its Department of Exercise Science offers education, sport, fitness and allied-health concentrations and a set of online master's concentrations.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 10 of 12, doctorate
• Best Online Doctoral Programs Rank 10 of 12, doctorate
• Cheapest Online Programs Rank 10 of 12, doctorate
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 8 of 10, doctorate
• Best Online Programs in Tennessee Rank 1 of 1, doctorate

• Exercise Science, M.A. (online; Lifetime Wellness concentration plus PE and sport concentrations)

  M.A., Master's

  Fully Online $882 per credit Score 46.7

Also at Tennessee Technological University, but not counted here because they are not fully online: Ph.D. in Exceptional Learning, Health Behavior & Wellness Education concentration (doctorate, on campus); Exercise Science, B.S. (Exercise Physiology, Fitness & Wellness, Sport Performance concentrations) (bachelor's, on campus).

• Concordia University-Chicago

  Exercise Science (PhD), online

  Illinois $775 per credit Score 36.5

• Concordia University-Saint Paul

  Doctor of Education in Kinesiology (emphases: Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, Exercise and Sport Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning)

  Minnesota $690 per credit Score 44.5

• Concordia University-Saint Paul

  Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (emphases: Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, Exercise and Sport Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning)

  Minnesota $690 per credit Score 44.5

• Old Dominion University

  Doctor of Applied Science in Kinesiology (DAS)

  Virginia $662 per credit Score 45.8