Walsh University Online Master of Science in Exercise Physiology

Walsh's online M.S. in Exercise Physiology is a two-year master's that mixes exercise science with business, and it suits fitness managers and coaches more than future clinicians. Tuition is $785 per credit, which comes to $24,335 for 31 credits. Ten of those credits are MBA-coded business and healthcare courses. The program holds ASEP accreditation, a professional society's seal, and it isn't CAAHEP-accredited.

Walsh University is a private Catholic university in North Canton, Ohio, with an online and accelerated Digital Campus. The program page says the degree pairs entrepreneurship and business management coursework with exercise physiology, aimed at fitness centers, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, schools and sports medicine clinics.

Admission asks for a bachelor's degree from an accredited college, a 2.75 GPA, official transcripts, a current resume and a cover letter. The letter covers your career goals, why this degree helps and how you've prepared. The application is free, and the page names no required major or entrance exam.

The program page says the degree is designed to be completed online in about two years. It doesn't say whether classes are asynchronous or meet live, so ask. Business Foundations is self-paced, and EXS 600 is offered every term.

Start dates need clearing up. The program page lists October 26, January 11 and March 15 as the next starts. The curriculum page says you can enter Fall 1, Spring 1 or Summer 1. A separate Walsh page for first responders says classes begin every 8 weeks. The capstone comes in year 2, and no page lists campus visits.

Who It Fits

• Club managers, personal training coordinators and corporate wellness coaches. Those are the roles the program page names, and the business courses in marketing, healthcare law and healthcare organizations match the work of running a team or a facility.
• Working adults who can commit to about two years. Year 1 carries 20 credits and year 2 carries 11, and Business Foundations is self-paced, so you can take it in any session.
• First responders and their dependents. Walsh offers a 15% discount on nearly all its programs, including this one, when you're accepted and can verify employment or service. The rate drops to $667.25 per credit, or $20,684.75 over 31 credits.

Who Should Skip It

• Skip it if you plan to sit for the ACSM-EP or ACSM-CEP after August 15, 2027. Those candidates need a CAAHEP-accredited program or one that has started the process, and this master's isn't on the CAAHEP list we pulled on September 29, 2026. See the online exercise physiology degrees for alternatives.
• Skip it if you want supervised clinical hours built in. Neither the program page nor the curriculum page mentions an internship or practicum, only a two-part capstone.
• Skip it if you want a science-heavy master's. Only 21 of the 31 credits are exercise science courses, and the other 10 are business courses.

Year 1 opens with EXS 600 Exercise Physiology Foundations (1 credit, waivable) and MBA 600 Business Foundations (1 credit, self-paced). Then come MBA 624 Marketing Management, EXS 615 Advanced Exercise & Sports Nutrition, MBA 721 Legal and Political Aspects of Healthcare, EXS 675 Advanced Research Methods, EXS 603 Health Motivation & Behavior Change and MBA 722 Healthcare Organizations & Systems.

Year 2 has EXS 602 Body Composition Change, EXS 601 Cardiorespiratory Physiology, EXS 620 Capstone I (3 credits) and EXS 621 Capstone II (2 credits). The curriculum page lists a total of 30 to 31 credits, and the 31 assumes you keep EXS 600.

So the physiology core is thin. Cardiorespiratory Physiology and the foundations course are the only two with physiology in the title, and nutrition, behavior change and body composition fill in the science side.

Courses the School Names

• Exercise Physiology Foundations
• Advanced Exercise & Sports Nutrition
• Health Motivation & Behavior Change
• Advanced Research Methods
• Body Composition Change
• Cardiorespiratory Physiology
• Marketing Management
• Legal and Political Aspects of Healthcare
• Healthcare Organizations & Systems
• Capstone I

Standout Features

• Blends business and entrepreneurship coursework (MBA-level marketing, healthcare law and organizations) with exercise physiology
• ASEP-accredited

Walsh's tuition page lists $785 per credit hour for this degree in 2026-27. At 31 credits that's $24,335, or $23,550 for 30 credits if you waive EXS 600. Fees add $50 for technology, $165 for graduation and $15 for a transcript, plus a $75 parking fee that online-only students can ask to have waived.

The program page advertises an average cost of $20,000, marked as after aid. Treat that as an estimate of what some students pay, not a price. Ask admissions which aid it assumes.

The page also quotes an average salary range of $60,000 to $84,000. BLS OEWS data for May 2025 puts the national median for exercise physiologists at $59,460, and the 90th percentile at $80,560.

31 credits at $785 a credit comes to $24,335 in tuition, before fees.

Walsh is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, which reaffirmed it for the maximum 10 years in 2020. The master's is accredited by the American Society of Exercise Physiologists, and ASEP's accredited programs page lists Walsh's master's as its one entry.

ASEP is a professional society. Its accreditation isn't CAAHEP's, and it doesn't satisfy ACSM's 2027 rule. ASEP does run its own Exercise Physiologist Certified exam, which asks for a related degree, membership and a C or better in seven of nine listed course areas. ASEP says students in an accredited program have the coursework. Ask employers you care about whether they recognize that credential.

Where this degree can lead: Exercise Physiologist Careers, ACSM Exercise Physiologist Certification.

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

• Ten of the 31 credits carry MBA course numbers: business foundations, marketing, healthcare law and healthcare systems. Good for managers, but less exercise science per dollar.
• No CAAHEP accreditation, no listed certification prep and no internship. Any hands-on hours or ACSM path is yours to build.
• Start dates conflict across three Walsh pages, and the page never says whether classes are live or asynchronous.
• List tuition is $24,335, while the $20,000 headline depends on aid. Fees add at least $230 once parking is waived.

• Which start dates are open right now, and does Fall 1, Spring 1 or Summer 1 mean something different from the 8-week starts?
• Are classes asynchronous, or do any meet live at set times?
• How do I qualify to waive EXS 600, and does waiving it change the 31-credit total?
• Does the curriculum cover the nine course areas ASEP lists for its certification exam, including biomechanics and environmental physiology?
• What aid assumptions sit behind the $20,000 average cost?
• Can I arrange hands-on hours at my workplace, and would ACSM count them toward a clinical route?
• Does the 15% first responder discount apply to me, and how does it interact with scholarships?

Private Catholic university in North Canton, Ohio with an online and accelerated 'Digital Campus'; its exercise physiology master's blends exercise science with business coursework.

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• Tiffin University

  Master of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology

  Ohio $755 per credit Score 39.4

• Logan University

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• Logan University

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• University of Memphis

  Master of Science in Exercise Nutrition (Health Studies)

  Tennessee $697 per credit Score 37.8