University of Arkansas at Monticello Online Master of Physical Education and Coaching (M.P.E.C.)

The Master of Physical Education and Coaching at Arkansas at Monticello is a coaching degree first and an exercise science degree second. Seven of its ten courses cover coaching, sport law, administration, psychology and sociology. Three go deep on strength and conditioning, exercise physiology and pharmacology. Tuition is $303.25 an hour for Arkansas residents before fees.

Choose it if you want to lead teams or athletic programs, not if you're aiming at clinical work.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello is a public regional university in southeast Arkansas and part of the University of Arkansas System. Exercise science and physical education sit in its School of Education, and its online master's list also includes teaching, educational leadership and public health.

The M.P.E.C. is 30 semester hours, all of them required. The catalog groups the ten courses into five components: methodology, science, socio-culture, administration and coaching. It says the focus is sport-related settings, and it's plain that the degree doesn't lead to a teaching license. You apply with a bachelor's degree from an accredited university.

Graduate tuition for the 2026-27 school year is $303.25 an hour for Arkansas residents. Out-of-state students pay $556.00 an hour, which is that same $303.25 plus $252.75 of out-of-state tuition. Thirty hours comes to $9,097.50 for residents and $16,680 for everyone else.

Fees change the picture. UAM lists ten mandatory graduate fees that add up to $133.25 an hour, and a $50 distance education fee applies to any online class. Stack everything and an Arkansas resident pays $486.50 an hour, or $14,595 for the degree. Out-of-state that becomes $739.25 an hour, or $22,177.50.

UAM doesn't say whether online students are charged every mandatory fee, so those totals are a ceiling. Arkansas residents 60 or older can have tuition and mandatory fees waived, space permitting.

30 credits at $556 a credit comes to $16,680 in tuition, before fees. At the in-state rate of $303.25, the same 30 credits come to $9,098.

Who It Fits

• You coach now or want to. Coaching Methodologies, Sport Skills and Analysis, Psychology of Sports in Physical Education and Organization and Administration of Athletics are written for someone running a team or a program, and you can try the ideas at practice the following week.
• You're an Arkansas resident watching the bill. Thirty hours of resident tuition comes to $9,097.50, and residents of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana may have the out-of-state charge waived.
• You want a strength and conditioning foundation without writing a thesis. All 30 hours go to the ten courses, so there's no thesis course, and three of them are Advanced Strength and Conditioning, Advanced Exercise Physiology and Exercise and Sport Pharmacology.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you want to work as a clinical exercise physiologist. The ten courses don't include exercise testing or clinical populations, and no CAAHEP accreditation is listed for the program.
• Skip it if you want a teaching license. The catalog says this degree does not prepare you for one.
• Skip it if you need one flat number to plan around. UAM prices by the hour, with ten mandatory fee lines and a distance education fee stacked on top.

There are no electives. The required courses are PE 5153 Advanced Strength and Conditioning, PE 5103 Advanced Exercise Physiology, PE 5113 Exercise and Sport Pharmacology, PE 5123 Risk Management and Legal Issues in Sports, PE 5253 Psychology of Sports in Physical Education, and PE 5043 Organization and Administration of Athletics.

The rest are PE 5143 Applied Research and Evaluation Application in Athletics, PE 5163 Coaching Methodologies, PE 5173 Sport Skills and Analysis and PE 5183 Sports Sociology. Every course is 3 hours.

Be honest with yourself about the mix. Only the first three courses in that list are exercise science in the way a bachelor's graduate would use the term. The course list comes from a catalog page labeled archived, so ask UAM to confirm the current plan of study.

Courses the School Names

• Advanced Strength and Conditioning
• Advanced Exercise Physiology
• Exercise and Sport Pharmacology
• Risk Management and Legal Issues in Sports
• Psychology of Sports in Physical Education
• Organization and Administration of Athletics
• Applied Research and Evaluation Application in Athletics
• Coaching Methodologies
• Sport Skills and Analysis
• Sports Sociology

Standout Features

• Ten-course curriculum mixes advanced strength and conditioning, advanced exercise physiology and exercise and sport pharmacology with coaching and administration

UAM lists Physical Education and Coaching among its online master's degrees, and the catalog gives the program's location as online. You apply through a form on the School of Education's graduate degrees page, where the plan of study also sits.

One rule is worth knowing before you enroll. UAM's fee schedule says students who are marked as never attended in the first two weeks of a class are dropped from it, so log in early in every course, including the first one. Students sign a financial agreement during onboarding, and past balances must be paid before you can enroll for the next term.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, the regional accreditor for the central states. That covers the institution. No exercise science program accreditor from CAAHEP or CASCE is listed for this degree.

No certification exam is tied to it either. UAM says the degree prepares you for leadership in fitness exercise, strength and conditioning, and athletic coaching. If you want the NSCA CSCS, the exam needs a bachelor's degree today, and from January 1, 2030 a U.S. candidate's bachelor's must come from a CASCE-accredited program. A master's here won't change that.

The ACSM exercise physiologist credentials have their own rule. From August 15, 2027, candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited exercise science or exercise physiology program, and this degree isn't on that list.

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

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

• Seven of the ten courses are coaching, law, administration, psychology and sociology. If you came for the science, you get three courses of it.
• The fees are the real cost. The $50 distance education fee alone adds $1,500 over 30 hours, and the mandatory fees add $3,997.50 more.
• The course list and course count come from an archived catalog page, and the current plan of study sits behind a link on the graduate page.
• There's no internship, practicum or capstone course in the list. The closest thing to a culminating project is the applied research course, PE 5143.

• Does the current plan of study match the ten courses in the archived catalog, and are any of them offered only in certain terms?
• If I take all 30 hours online, will I be charged every mandatory fee plus the $50 distance education fee? Can you send an itemized estimate?
• I live in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi or Louisiana. Is the out-of-state tuition waived automatically, or do I apply for it?
• What are the start terms and application deadlines, and how many courses do most students take at once?
• Are the courses asynchronous, or are there scheduled class meetings?
• What GPA, references or test scores does the admissions committee look for?
• Is there any practicum or applied coaching project, or is everything coursework?

Public regional university in southeast Arkansas, part of the University of Arkansas System, with a School of Education housing exercise science and physical education programs. Its online offerings are a mix of education, nursing, English and public health programs.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 82 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 82 of 99, master's
• Best Online Strength and Conditioning Degrees Rank 36 of 39, master's
• Best for Coaches Rank 35 of 43, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 67 of 78, master's

Also at University of Arkansas at Monticello, but not counted here because they are not fully online: Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science (bachelor's, on campus).

• East Texas A&M University

  Master of Science in Health, Kinesiology & Sports Studies, Sports Coaching Emphasis

  Texas Score 42.5

• Lasell University

  Master of Science in Applied Sports Science Analytics

  Massachusetts $756 per credit Score 42.8

• Western Michigan University

  Exercise Science, MS

  Michigan $868.04 per credit Score 43.3

• Franklin University

  M.S. in Exercise Science, Clinical Exercise Physiology Specialization

  Ohio $690 per credit Score 43.4