University of Wisconsin-River Falls Online Strength and Conditioning (M.S.)

This is a strength coach's master's degree at a public price. You take 33 credits at $540 each, the same for every residency, with three weekends of hands-on gym training at River Falls and a 6-credit internship at the end. UWRF says it will pay for your CSCS exam. Choose it to train athletes. Skip it if you want clinical work or a fully remote schedule.

The University of Wisconsin-River Falls is a public university in River Falls, Wisconsin. This master's sits in the Health and Human Performance Department, and UWRF designed it for people who want to work with athletes at any level, including professional. Its list of employers runs from professional sports teams and NCAA programs to high school teams, private performance centers and sports medicine clinics.

UWRF calls the format fully hybrid. Courses are asynchronous each semester, and the school requires three in-person weekends. Admission asks for a bachelor's degree, a GPA of at least 2.75, transcripts, one recommendation, a resume and the $56 fee. No GRE is required.

Courses are asynchronous, and you can enroll in fall, spring or summer. Space is limited and applications are processed first come, first served, so early applicants have the edge.

Each of the three campus weekends is intensive gym training with instructors, meant to put what you read into practice. The internship comes at the end of your degree plan. You work with faculty to find a placement, and UWRF says you can also volunteer with athletes and earn credit through curated internships. The school says full-time students finish in 12 to 16 months, depending on options.

Who It Fits

• Aspiring collegiate and professional strength coaches. UWRF says its faculty have trained elite athletes and built a network of placements that ranges from NCAA strength and conditioning jobs to private centers working with professional athletes.
• Lifters and trainers who want a master's without quitting work. Courses are asynchronous, so the fixed dates are the three gym weekends and the final internship.
• Budget-minded students. One tuition rate applies to everyone, and UWRF says full-time students finish in 12 to 16 months. Our online strength and conditioning degrees list shows how that compares.

Who Should Skip It

• Anyone who wants clinical exercise physiology. Nothing in this curriculum covers electrocardiography or cardiac rehab. UWRF's sister program, the online M.S. in Clinical Exercise Physiology, does.
• Anyone who can't get to Wisconsin. The gym weekends are part of the degree.
• Applicants without exercise physiology and human anatomy and physiology on their transcripts. Both are prerequisites.

The 33 credits are nine 3-credit courses and a 6-credit internship. The science block is EXSS 701 Advanced Physiology of Exercise, STAC 725 Muscle Physiology, STAC 743 Functional Anatomy and STAC 735 Sports Movement Analysis. STAC 705 Sports Nutrition covers nutrient timing and fuel needs for different sports, plus ergogenic aids.

The coaching block is STAC 760 Sports Performance Program Design, STAC 761 Advanced Strength, Speed and Power Design and STAC 765 Organization and Administration of S&C Programs. STAC 761 aims at sprint acceleration, speed and explosive jumping. STAC 765 covers staffing, budgeting and the legal side of running a facility. EXSS 715 Stats and Research Methods in HHP rounds it out.

The course pages show EXSS 701, STAC 760 and STAC 761 as summer courses, each a prerequisite for the next.

Courses the School Names

• Advanced Physiology of Exercise
• Sports Nutrition
• Muscle Physiology
• Sports Movement Analysis
• Functional Anatomy
• Sports Performance Program Design
• Advanced Strength, Speed and Power Design
• Organization and Administration of S&C Programs
• Stats and Research Methods in HHP

Standout Features

• 'We will pay for your CSCS exam!'
• Faculty with experience training elite athletes; curated internship network

UWRF's 2026-27 billing page lists Strength and Conditioning at $540 per credit in fall and spring, whatever your residency, and $529.50 in summer 2026. At $540, 33 credits come to $17,820.

Segregated fees are extra. A fall or spring term of 8 credits costs $4,320 in tuition plus $883.67 in fees, or $5,203.67. Add travel for three weekends, textbooks and any course fees. UWRF's page says it will pay for your CSCS exam, so ask what that covers before you count it as savings.

33 credits at $540 a credit comes to $17,820 in tuition, before fees.

UWRF is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, a regional accreditor. The program page lists no programmatic accreditation.

The CSCS is NSCA's Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist exam. You don't need this master's to sit for it, because a bachelor's degree is what NSCA asks for today. From January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program (Collegiate Accreditation for Strength and Conditioning Education). That rule points at your undergraduate degree, so this master's doesn't satisfy it.

Up to the end of 2029, the current degree rule stays in place. A 12 to 16 month plan would put your exam well before that.

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.

• The summer chain. EXSS 701, STAC 760 and STAC 761 are all listed for summer, each required before the next. That doesn't obviously fit a 12 to 16 month plan.
• Three trips to Wisconsin, which means travel costs and time off work.
• Limited space and first-come processing mean a late application can cost you a term.
• UWRF's federal graduation rate is 57 percent. That covers the whole university, not this program. Federal data also count 14 master's awards a year in this field across both of UWRF's exercise master's programs.

• How does a full-time student take EXSS 701, STAC 760 and STAC 761 within 12 to 16 months if each requires the one before?
• What does the free CSCS exam cover: one attempt, the fee only, and by when?
• How many internship hours does the 6-credit placement require, and who finds the site?
• What are the three weekend dates, and are they the same every year?
• I have no exercise physiology course. Can I complete the prerequisites elsewhere before I start?
• How many students are admitted each term, and when should I apply?
• Do graduates hold roles with NCAA teams or private performance centers, and can I talk to some?

Public university in River Falls, Wisconsin (Universities of Wisconsin). Its Health and Human Performance Department, in the College of Education, Business and Allied Health, offers the online clinical exercise physiology and strength and conditioning master's programs.

• Best Online Exercise Science Degrees Rank 46 of 99, master's
• Best Online Master's Programs Rank 46 of 99, master's
• Best Online Strength and Conditioning Degrees Rank 28 of 39, master's
• Accelerated Online Programs Rank 22 of 46, master's
• No-GRE Online Master's Programs Rank 23 of 44, master's
• Best for Athletes Rank 7 of 15, master's
• Best Online Programs in Wisconsin Rank 2 of 3, master's

• Clinical Exercise Physiology (M.S.)

  M.S., Master's

  Online With Campus Requirements $567 per credit Score 57.6

• University of Mary

  Master of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology

  North Dakota $670 per credit Score 55.2

• University of Central Missouri

  Master of Science in Physical Education, Coaching Option

  Missouri $450 per credit Score 55.1

• Colby-Sawyer College

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

  New Hampshire $685 per credit Score 55.6

• King's College

  Master of Science in Performance and Sports Science (MSPSS)

  Pennsylvania $765 per credit Score 56.0