University of Mary Online Master of Science in Kinesiology

University of Mary's M.S. in Kinesiology is a flexible, two-year blended master's with ten concentrations, and its strength and conditioning concentration is the reason to look at it. That concentration holds CASCE accreditation, the strength and conditioning accreditation NSCA lists, and adds nine credits of exercise physiology and field experience.

The catch is a short campus residency in Bismarck during your second year, and two prices and two start schedules on the school's own pages. Choose it if coaching or performance work is the goal.

The University of Mary is a private Catholic, Benedictine university in Bismarck, North Dakota. Its master's in kinesiology focuses on human movement and physical activity, with a blended format that combines online courses with short residency courses on campus.

The program page says you can live wherever you are while you study. You can add a concentration in strength and conditioning, research, bioethics, business operations, health care, health and performance leadership, human resources management, managerial leadership, virtue and sport or virtuous leadership.

Mary lists a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 and welcomes transfer students and people with military or work experience. You can earn credit for prior learning by testing or a portfolio review. Military members can request a Joint Services Transcript, and Air Force personnel use the CCAF.

The program page calls the format blended, primarily online, with a short residency in Bismarck during the fall and spring semesters of your second year. The strength and conditioning page lists its format simply as online, so ask whether concentration students still attend the residency. Mary lists two start schedules.

The parent program page shows a fall start on 9/6/2027, and the concentration page shows fall, spring and summer starts with the next on 1/4/2027. That's a difference of eight months, so confirm which start you're eligible for. Transcripts, prior learning and military credit are handled through the admissions office.

Who It Fits

• Coaches and personal trainers who want a graduate degree in strength and conditioning. The concentration is listed as online, it's accredited, and it's built around in-depth exercise physiology followed by a capstone internship and supervised field experience.
• Service members and veterans with training on their record. Mary accepts military experience toward a degree, and its military services office helps with benefits. It states no special military tuition rate.
• Professionals with experience but no degree in kinesiology. Prior learning credit by test or portfolio can turn years of work into credits, so ask how many you'd get before you compare costs.
• Health and sports staff who want business or leadership skills. Other concentrations include health care, business operations and managerial leadership.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants to become a clinical exercise physiologist. This isn't the University of Mary's CAAHEP-accredited clinical program. See online clinical exercise physiology master's programs if cardiac rehab is your goal.
• Students who can't travel. The parent degree has a short residency at the Bismarck campus during the fall and spring semesters of your second year.
• Anyone who needs a full price up front. The credit total comes from Mary's advisors, and the concentration adds nine credits on top.

The parent degree teaches advanced principles of human movement, biomechanics and movement analysis, and includes research methodology in kinesiology and sports enhancement. Mary's stated outcomes are advanced knowledge in kinesiology and sports enhancement, research skills and community benefit.

The strength and conditioning concentration is three courses and nine credits, added to the credits required for the M.S. degree. Mary describes in-depth exercise physiology, then a capstone internship and additional supervised field experience alongside current practitioners. Mary's data sheet shows the overall kinesiology program graduating 5 students in 2022-2023 and 8 in 2023-2024, so it's a small group.

Standout Features

• CASCE-accredited graduate strength and conditioning concentration; work with current practitioners in real-world settings
• Ten optional concentrations including Virtue and Sport and Health and Performance Leadership

The University of Mary's 2026-2027 tuition page lists $670 per credit for the M.S. in Kinesiology, and the strength and conditioning page shows the same $670. The main program page still shows $600 per credit.

A Technology and Distance Learning Fee of $55 per credit is required, so plan on $725 per credit, which is $2,175 for a 3-credit course. The strength and conditioning concentration alone, at 9 credits, adds $6,525 at that rate.

Mary offers each eligible candidate up to $5,000 in scholarships. Travel and lodging for the residency are extra. The graduation fee is $150 and the application fee is $45.

The University of Mary's graduate strength and conditioning concentration is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning Education (CASCE), and NSCA's CASCE list shows it at Initial Accreditation. That matters because U.S.

NSCA-CSCS candidates need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program starting January 1, 2030. The rule is about your bachelor's, so a CASCE master's may not fix a non-CASCE bachelor's. Until December 31, 2029, a bachelor's plus CPR/AED is enough.

Mary's data sheet for this concentration reports no CSCS exam results. The degree isn't CAAHEP accredited, so it isn't a route to the ACSM-EP or ACSM-CEP after August 15, 2027.

Where this degree can lead: Strength and Conditioning Coach Careers, CSCS Certification Requirements.

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

• The two program pages disagree on price ($600 versus $670) and on starts (9/6/2027 versus 1/4/2027).
• The total credits aren't stated, so you can't compute a full price without asking.
• The residency in Bismarck adds travel and time off in your second year.
• Mary's data sheet reports graduation and retention but no CSCS exam results, so you can't judge exam outcomes yet.
• Mary's federal graduation rate is 67 percent, a whole-university figure.

• How many total credits does the M.S. in Kinesiology need with and without the strength and conditioning concentration?
• Do students in the online concentration still attend the second-year residency, and for how many days?
• Which is correct, $600 or $670 per credit, and which start dates are open to me?
• How many prior learning or military credits will you accept from my record?
• Does NSCA count a CASCE master's toward the 2030 CSCS rule if my bachelor's isn't from a CASCE program?
• What does the capstone internship require in hours, and can my current gym or team supply it?

University of Mary is a private Catholic, Benedictine university in Bismarck, North Dakota, with more than 3,800 students and online offerings; its Saint Gianna School of Health Sciences houses an Exercise Physiology department with a CAAHEP-accredited bachelor's in exercise science and a master's in clinical exercise physiology.

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• Master of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology

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