University of Central Missouri Online Master of Science in Physical Education, Coaching Option

The Coaching Option of Central Missouri's M.S. in Physical Education is a coaching and teaching-methods degree, not an exercise science degree. Only two of its eleven courses touch how people move or get active, and none is anatomy, physiology or biomechanics. It's 100% online and asynchronous, 33 credits at $450 a credit. Choose it for coaching leadership.

If you want strength or clinical work, look at Central Missouri's kinesiology master's instead.

This program lives in the College of Education at the University of Central Missouri, in Warrensburg. The Physical Education master's has two options, pedagogy and coaching, and this review covers the coaching one. It doesn't lead to a teaching license, and UCM points future teachers to its Master of Arts in Teaching.

UCM says graduates are qualified to coach athletic, performance and recreation teams, coordinate sport clubs and lead coach development programs. Admission, according to the catalog, asks for a 2.5 college GPA, three letters of recommendation and an official transcript from the school where you earned or are earning your bachelor's.

UCM charges $450 per credit hour for online graduate courses in 2026-27. For 33 credits, that's $14,850 in tuition. That's $1,350 more than the 30-credit kinesiology master's at the same rate.

The $450 leaves out mandatory, technology, testing, program and course fees. UCM's own estimate is $16,640, or about $504 a credit, based on fewer than 9 credit hours a term. The difference of $1,790 is fees.

If you're an eligible employee of a participating district, a 20% award would take $2,970 off the tuition, leaving $11,880 before fees.

33 credits at $450 a credit comes to $14,850 in tuition, before fees.

Who It Fits

• You coach already, at a school, club or league, and want a graduate credential. Four required courses are about coaching itself: Standards-Based Coaching, Philosophy and Ethics, Organization and Administration, and Motivational Aspects of Coaching.
• You work for a participating school district. UCM's District Partnership Award gives eligible employees a 20% tuition award on graduate courses.
• You need to study on your own schedule. UCM calls the program asynchronous, so nothing requires you to log in at a set hour.
• Your undergraduate grades were average. The catalog sets the GPA line at 2.5 and asks for three letters of recommendation.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you want to design training programs for athletes on the science side. No course here covers exercise physiology, biomechanics or strength programming.
• Skip it if you want a teacher's license, even though two core courses are about teaching. UCM says this option doesn't lead to one.
• Skip it if you want an internship. The capstone is a professional seminar.

The 21-credit core is PE 5150 Introduction to Applied Research in Physical Education and Coaching, PE 5200 Effective Teaching in Physical Education, PE 5420 Growth and Physical Performance of the Preschool and Elementary Child, PE 5450 Physical Activity Promotion, PE 5840 Principles of Motor Learning, PE 6190 Trends and Issues in Physical Education and Coaching and PE 6950 Professional Seminar in Physical Education.

The coaching option adds 12 credits: PE 5175 Introduction to Standards-Based Coaching, PE 5350 Philosophy and Ethics in Coaching, PE 5550 Organization and Administration in Coaching and PE 5855 Motivational Aspects of Coaching.

Expect a teacher-education flavor. Two core courses are pitched at teaching and at young children, which won't help every coach.

Courses the School Names

• Introduction to Standards-Based Coaching
• Philosophy and Ethics in Coaching
• Organization and Administration in Coaching
• Motivational Aspects of Coaching
• Professional Seminar (capstone)

Standout Features

• 100% online asynchronous coaching master's with two fall/winter start dates

UCM describes the program as 100% online and asynchronous. You can start October 12, 2026 or January 11, 2027, and the school says students finish in as little as 18 to 24 months.

The page says you'll work with faculty to adapt courses and practicums to your goals and setting, and that coursework is customized to your professional context. So the assignments are meant to run through your own coaching, whether that's a varsity program or a youth club. The catalog, though, lists no practicum course, so ask what that word means in practice.

UCM is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Nothing on the program's pages ties it to a certification exam, and it isn't an exercise science program, so the ACSM and NSCA degree rules don't run through it.

That matters if you're weighing credentials. The CSCS exam needs a bachelor's, and from January 1, 2030 a U.S. candidate's bachelor's must come from a CASCE-accredited program. The ACSM exercise physiologist credentials require graduation from a CAAHEP-accredited program starting August 15, 2027. A coaching master's does neither.

What it gives you is a graduate degree from a public university plus coaching coursework organized around standards and ethics.

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.

• It isn't exercise science. Physical Activity Promotion and Principles of Motor Learning are the closest courses, and there's no anatomy, physiology or biomechanics.
• At 33 credits it's 3 credits longer than Central Missouri's kinesiology master's, so the tuition is higher even at the same rate.
• The page talks about practicums, but the catalog shows none. Two core courses are aimed at teaching and at young children.
• The page leans on third-party rankings dated 2021 and 2022, which say little about the program today.
• The October 12, 2026 start is close, and the next one after it is January 11, 2027.

• What does the page mean by adapting practicums to my setting? Do I need to be coaching a team during the term?
• How many hours a week does a typical course take, and are there any live sessions at all?
• PE 5420 covers preschool and elementary children. Can I substitute a course if I coach teenagers or adults?
• Which school districts take part in the District Partnership Award, and how do I apply for it?
• What fees are on my bill each semester, and how do they compare with the $16,640 estimate?
• What does the professional seminar require, and is there a final project?
• Would credits from another graduate program transfer in?

Public university in Warrensburg, Missouri, near Kansas City, with a second location in Lee's Summit. The Department of Nutrition, Kinesiology and Health runs human performance, biomechanics and clinical exercise physiology labs and reports a 21-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 48 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 48 of 99, master's
• Cheapest Online Programs Rank 14 of 15, master's
• Best for Working Adults Rank 27 of 50, master's
• Best for Coaches Rank 22 of 43, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 37 of 78, master's
• Best Online Programs in Missouri Rank 2 of 9, master's

• Master of Science in Kinesiology

  M.S., Master's

  Fully Online $450 per credit Score 58.1

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

• University of Mary

  Master of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology

  North Dakota $670 per credit Score 55.2

• University of Wisconsin-River Falls

  Strength and Conditioning (M.S.)

  Wisconsin $540 per credit Score 55.3

• Colby-Sawyer College

  Master of Science in Exercise Science (M.S.E.S.)

  New Hampshire $685 per credit Score 55.6

• Maryville University of Saint Louis

  Master of Science in Exercise Science

  Missouri $625 per credit Score 54.5