University of the Southwest Online Kinesiology, M.S.

The University of the Southwest's online M.S. in Kinesiology is closer to a sport behavior degree than an exercise physiology one. Four of its ten required courses cover psychology and behavior, one covers sports law, and the rest cover physiology, testing, nutrition and motor control. At $675 per credit, $20,250 for 30 credits, it fits coaches and athletic staff, less so anyone chasing a clinical credential.

The University of the Southwest is a private Christian university in Hobbs, New Mexico, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. All of its graduate programs are 100 percent online.

The degree is 30 credits, all required, with no electives and no concentration. The program page says it's designed to develop health professionals for fields such as exercise physiology, sports psychology, sports medicine, health education and kinesiology, with coursework in clinical evaluation, fitness assessment, nutrition and exercise prescription. Admission asks for a conferred bachelor's degree and a 3.0 undergraduate GPA. There's no GRE listed.

USW says all graduate programs are offered exclusively online, and the degree has a dedicated page on its online site. That site says classes start every eight weeks, which suggests you're not tied to a fall start.

After you apply, you get an acknowledgment from a graduate enrollment counselor, and admitted students complete a virtual orientation with their USW login. There's no thesis, capstone or internship in the degree plan, so the whole degree is coursework.

Who It Fits

• You coach or work with athletes. Applied Sport Psychology, Psychology of Sport and Injury, Group Dynamics and Issues in Sports Law give you material you can use in a locker room or an athletic department office.
• You want a master's in a fixed sequence. All ten courses are required, so you always know what's next. There's nothing to choose and no thesis to plan.
• You want a school that starts classes often. USW's online site says classes start every eight weeks, and applications take about three business days to process once your documents arrive.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you want a clinical exercise physiologist career. There's no clinical course and no internship, and it isn't a master's in clinical exercise physiology. Our online clinical exercise physiology master's list shows programs built for that.
• Skip it if you're comparing price. It costs more than most online kinesiology master's programs in our data, and it ranks last of 28 on our online master's in kinesiology list.
• Skip it if you want strength and conditioning or program design courses. The list has none.

The physiology side is four courses: KES 5003 Physiological Basis of Human Performance, KES 5043 Diagnostic Tests and Measurements in Exercise Science, KES 5023 Advanced Human Nutrition and KES 5053 Neurological Basis for Motor Learning and Control.

The behavior side is four more: KES 5063 Group Dynamics, KES 5073 Health and Human Behavior, KES 5123 Applied Sport Psychology and KES 5113 Psychology of Sport and Injury. KES 5013 Research Methods and KES 5033 Issues in Sports Law complete the ten.

The degree plan was last revised in June 2022. The program page mentions sports history and sports management as career fields, and neither has a course in the plan.

Courses the School Names

• KES 5013 Research Methods
• KES 5043 Diagnostic Tests & Measurements in Exercise Science
• KES 5003 Physiological Basis of Human Performance
• KES 5023 Advanced Human Nutrition
• KES 5033 Issues in Sports Law
• KES 5053 Neurological Basis for Motor Learning and Control
• KES 5063 Group Dynamics
• KES 5073 Health & Human Behavior
• KES 5123 Applied Sport Psychology
• KES 5113 Psychology of Sport and Injury

Standout Features

• Sport psychology depth: Applied Sport Psychology, Psychology of Sport and Injury, Group Dynamics
• Neurological Basis for Motor Learning and Control and Physiological Basis of Human Performance in the core

Master's tuition for 2026-2027 is $675 per credit hour. Thirty credits comes to $20,250. USW also charges an administrative fee of $100 per term or $200 per semester, and the school reserves the right to change tuition and fees without notice.

Ask about military, employer and transfer discounts before you apply. On our online kinesiology master's list, most programs cost less per credit, and the Cumberlands health and human performance master's is a useful comparison at roughly half the price.

30 credits at $675 a credit comes to $20,250 in tuition, before fees.

USW is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The kinesiology master's lists no programmatic accreditation and doesn't appear on our CAAHEP list. CAAHEP is the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, and it accredits exercise physiology at the master's level.

From August 15, 2027, ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP candidates must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited program or one in the process. ACSM's master's route for the clinical exercise physiologist exam asks for a master's in clinical exercise physiology or an equivalent, plus 600 hands-on clinical hours. This degree isn't named that and has no clinical hours.

The CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) 2030 rule concerns the bachelor's behind the exam, not this master's.

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.

• Only four of the ten courses are physiology, testing, nutrition or motor control. The rest lean on psychology, sports law and research, so it's a narrower exercise science foundation than the degree name suggests.
• It's expensive for what's offered. At $675 per credit it sits above most online kinesiology master's programs in our data.
• There's no practical component at all. No internship, practicum, thesis or capstone appears in the plan.
• The program page is one short paragraph. You'll get faculty names, course descriptions and a timeline from admissions, not from the site.
• The school's federal graduation rate is 17 percent. That figure tracks first-time, full-time students, mostly undergraduates, so it doesn't measure this master's directly.

• How long does the degree take at a normal pace, and how many courses can I take in one eight-week term?
• Which faculty teach the physiology and testing courses, and are they full-time?
• How is this degree different from USW's separate online M.S. in Sports Psychology, since half the courses overlap with sport behavior?
• Is there a military, employer or transfer discount, and can any graduate credit transfer in?
• Does the school know of graduates who have used this degree for ACSM's "or equivalent" clinical exercise physiologist route?
• Are the $100-per-term and $200-per-semester administrative fees the same thing, and which one would I pay?
• The school's online page for this degree carries a browser title that says Health and Human Performance. What degree name goes on my diploma?

Private four-year Christian university in Hobbs, NM, founded in 1962 and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It offers undergraduate programs both on campus and online and all graduate programs 100 percent online.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 93 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 93 of 99, master's
• Best Online Kinesiology Degrees Rank 26 of 28, master's
• Best Online Kinesiology Master's Rank 26 of 28, master's
• Accelerated Online Programs Rank 46 of 46, master's
• Best for Working Adults Rank 49 of 50, master's
• Best for Coaches Rank 40 of 43, master's
• Best for Athletes Rank 15 of 15, master's
• Best Christian Programs Rank 27 of 27, master's
• Best 100% Online Programs Rank 75 of 78, master's

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