University of Missouri Bachelor of Science in Sport Science With an Emphasis in Strength and Conditioning (Online)

This is the Mizzou degree to choose if you want to coach athletes and sit for the CSCS after 2030. The strength and conditioning emphasis is CASCE-accredited, and it adds a capstone built around the CSCS exam and a dedicated internship. It's 100% online, uses the same tuition as the general track and needs no campus visits. Expect a 120-credit bachelor's, not a quick certificate, and plan the prerequisites carefully.

This is the strength and conditioning emphasis inside the Bachelor of Science in Sport Science at the University of Missouri, a public flagship in Columbia. The Department of Physical Therapy in the College of Health Sciences runs it. Program director Steve Ball holds a PhD and the CSCS credential, and assistant professor Rebekah Carpenter has a background in female human performance.

Admission is direct, with no separate application to the program. Freshmen need the minimum ACT or SAT score, or a test-optional review, plus 17 high school courses. Transfer students need 24 or more applicable credits and a 2.0 GPA in their latest term. Mizzou's own example transfer student needs 60 credits.

Mizzou is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, and this emphasis is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning Education. NSCA's CASCE list pulled September 29, 2026 shows the emphasis with Initial Accreditation.

That matters because, from January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates for the CSCS need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program. The catalog says the curriculum is designed to prepare students to sit for the exam, not that it guarantees a pass. The exam has two sections, and you must pass both. This degree isn't on the CAAHEP list, so it doesn't meet the ACSM-EP rule that begins August 15, 2027.

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

Who It Fits

• Aspiring high school, college or private-facility strength coaches. Mizzou lists those jobs, and the emphasis is designed to prepare you for the NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist exam.
• Athletes and former athletes who want to coach. The emphasis includes The Female Performance Blueprint, a course on how female physiology shapes training and recovery from adolescence through menopause.
• Service members and veterans who train others. Mizzou says you can train athletes in the military, and its Military Tuition Award can reduce base tuition by 10%.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants a clinical or exercise physiology career. This emphasis is about performance training, so check the online exercise physiology degrees instead.
• Students who want the broader fitness and wellness route. The general Sport Science track is the version aimed at trainers and group exercise instructors.
• Anyone who can't line up an internship. Both the general and emphasis paths need a supervised placement, and this one is a 3 to 6 credit strength and conditioning internship.

You complete the sport science core, then three emphasis courses. SP_SCI 3630 The Female Performance Blueprint is 3 credits. SP_SCI 4500 Sport Science Capstone: Strength and Conditioning gives a comprehensive overview of the CSCS exam. SP_SCI 4560 Strength and Conditioning Internship is 3 to 6 credits. Grades in those courses must be C- or higher.

SP_SCI 4480 Technology and Science in Strength and Conditioning covers needs analysis, data-driven program design and performance monitoring, and it feeds into the capstone and internship. Exercise Techniques II teaches Olympic lifts, plyometrics and speed and agility work, and its lab is built around instructing others safely. Mizzou's Sport Science Lab uses GPS monitoring, force plates and motion capture, though online students should ask how they use it.

Courses the School Names

• SP_SCI 2130 Exercise Techniques
• SP_SCI 3130 Exercise Techniques II
• SP_SCI 3630 The Female Performance Blueprint
• SP_SCI 4440W Fitness Programming
• SP_SCI 4480 Technology and Science in Strength and Conditioning
• SP_SCI 4500 Sport Science Capstone: Strength and Conditioning
• SP_SCI 4560 Strength and Conditioning Internship

Standout Features

• CASCE-accredited strength and conditioning emphasis (general Sport Science track does not require CASCE accreditation)
• SP_SCI 3630 The Female Performance Blueprint, taught by faculty with a background in female human performance
• Sport Science Lab hands-on with GPS monitoring, force plates and motion capture

For 2026-27, part-time students pay $707.50 per credit. A student who takes 12 to 18 credits pays a flat $8,484.80 that semester, and summer costs $441.00 per credit. Mizzou's illustration for a freshman is $84,900, and for a 60-credit transfer student it's $42,450.

Nonresidents pay an added $134.20 per credit hour. At the part-time rate, all 120 credits would run $101,004 with that fee included. Military and veteran students may qualify for a 10% reduction, and transfers from Missouri community colleges may qualify for one too. Adults over 25 without a bachelor's may look into Missouri's Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant.

120 credits at $841.70 a credit comes to $101,004 in tuition, before fees. At the in-state rate of $707.50, the same 120 credits come to $84,900.

Courses are semester-based on Canvas and last 8 or 16 weeks. Some meet at set login times and others are asynchronous. You'll find weekly assignments, discussion boards and, in some courses, a proctored exam.

You can begin in August, January or June. Mizzou's application deadlines are July 1, December 1 and April 1, and it advises applying six weeks before the term. The strength and conditioning internship requires SP_SCI 3130 and Fitness Programming first, and the program page doesn't detail how sites get arranged. The capstone requires MPP 3500, so plan your schedule backward from your last semester.

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

• The catalog's four-year plan lists PH_THR 4420 or MPP 3500, but the capstone lists MPP 3500 as a prerequisite. Choose MPP 3500 to avoid a scheduling snag.
• The capstone and internship both sit in the last spring of Mizzou's plan, so a delay in either one postpones graduation.
• Mizzou's illustrative totals of $84,900 for a freshman and $42,450 for a transfer student use the part-time rate. Ask an advisor to price your real load against the flat semester rate.
• The degree prepares you for the CSCS, but the exam is a separate purchase with two sections, and you must pass both.

• Should I take MPP 3500 instead of PH_THR 4420, since the capstone lists it as a prerequisite?
• How are the SP_SCI 4560 internship sites found and approved for online students?
• Does the CASCE accreditation apply to the fully online version of this emphasis?
• Can the capstone be completed in the same semester as the internship, or must it come first?
• Are the Exercise Techniques labs (2131 and 3131) done at home or at a gym I choose, and do they have set meeting times?
• Will Mizzou evaluate my transfer credit and my military training before I apply?

The University of Missouri (Mizzou) is a public flagship university in Columbia, Missouri. Its online Sport Science degrees are run by the Department of Physical Therapy in the College of Health Sciences, with a Sport Science Lab using GPS monitoring, force plates and motion capture.

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