Best Online Bachelor's in Exercise Science (2026)

This is a completion program built around strength and conditioning, and it holds NSCA Educationally Recognized Program status, so credential scores 8. You need at least 30 college credits to enter, and IPEDS shows a 75% graduation rate. At $520 per credit plus per-term fees, cost is the trade-off, and it keeps the program at eleventh.

Penn Western prices this degree at $347 per credit in state and $354 out of state, with $250 for military and veterans regardless of residency. Fees push the totals to $416.90 and $458.90. Cost scores 9.4, and you can convert certifications into course credit, but a depth score of 1 and no CAAHEP or CASCE accreditation keep it twelfth.

Southern Miss offers fitness and nutrition rather than straight exercise science, so it suits you if the food side of training interests you. Out-of-state tuition is waived online, and full-time students pay a flat $5,197 per semester instead of the $433.59 part-time rate. A 49% graduation rate holds it at fifteenth.

Oregon State ranks sixteenth because outcomes and track record, at 8.8 each, offset a cost score of 2: it's $409 per quarter credit over 180 credits. IPEDS shows a 70% graduation rate. The school says this degree isn't designed for allied health paths like physical therapy, so it fits coaching, training and fitness careers better.

Mississippi State built this for people who already hold an Associate of Applied Science. Only AAS or AAT holders qualify, everyone pays the in-state rate of $452 plus a $25 support fee per credit, and up to 86 hours can come from a four-year university. Track record scores 9.7 and IPEDS shows a 67% graduation rate.

ASU's Healthy Lifestyles and Fitness Science degree is the fitness-focused option beside its kinesiology BS, and it edges that sibling 56.6 to 55.6 despite less depth. It shares the 68% graduation rate and 7.5-week classes, ends with a culminating hands-on experience, and costs $580 per credit. Look here if training clients matters more than pre-professional prerequisites.

Arizona's Nutrition and Human Performance BS gets its score from outcomes: IPEDS shows a 68% graduation rate. The name puts nutrition beside performance, and the school says it prepares students for graduate programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, kinesiology and physician assistant studies. Tuition is $525 per credit with no out-of-state tuition, $63,000 over 120 credits.

Maryville sits eighteenth despite a cost score of 2.9. At $575 per credit plus a $475 technology fee each semester, it's costly. What you get is credential alignment and depth, both 8: NSCA Education Recognition Program status, a 21-credit Strength and Conditioning concentration, and two practicums, 120 and 200 supervised hours, at a site you choose from partners.

Missouri's strength and conditioning emphasis is accredited by CASCE, the strength coach accreditor, so credential scores a perfect 10 for anyone aiming at the CSCS certification, and IPEDS shows a 75% graduation rate. Price is the catch: the school's freshman estimate is $84,900, and a typical 60-hour transfer runs $42,450. Cost scores 0.5.

Arizona State pairs a top track record score (10) and a 68% graduation rate with a $580 per credit price that pulls cost down to 2.4. It says the curriculum includes prerequisites for graduate study in physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, chiropractic medicine and clinical exercise physiology, taught in 7.5-week classes.

Franklin ranks twenty-third because IPEDS shows an 11% graduation rate, which drags outcomes to 0.1, even though flexibility scores 9. It offers about eight starts a year, 6-week and 12-week courses and up to 90 transfer credits. Its pre-physical therapy and pre-occupational therapy focus areas add science prerequisites, at $398 per credit ($250 for service members).

Tarleton mixes on-campus, hybrid and online formats, and labs and internships are part of the degree, so flexibility scores only 3. It earns credential 7 by mapping to ACSM-EP, the exercise physiologist certification, along with the NSCA-CSCS and ACE, and a strength and conditioning concentration is coming Fall 2027. Track record scores 9.9.

University of Saint Mary is a degree-completion program. Bring up to 90 transfer credits and you can finish in about two years with an associate degree. Tuition is $435 per credit for 2026-27, courses run in 8-week terms with up to five starts a year, and the EX 490 internship capstone includes review for a personal training certification.

The general Sport Science track at Missouri is the broader sibling of its strength emphasis. It holds NSCA Education Recognition Program status, so credential stays at 8, and the coursework maps to personal training and strength coach certifications. The price problem carries over: $707.50 per credit part time, an $84,900 school estimate for a freshman, and $40,327.50 for a 57-hour transfer.

Toccoa Falls quotes one number: $400 per credit for 2026-27 with $0 in additional fees, rising to $410 in 2027-28, so 126 credits come to $50,400. Full-time emergency first responders get a 50% discount. It's a Christian and Missionary Alliance school, and its athletic training, OT and PT pitch comes with intentional planning and extra preparation.

Concordia Chicago scores 9 on flexibility: asynchronous 8-week courses, no entrance exams and no prior college required, with up to 90 credit hours transferring. At $440 per credit it's mid-priced, but a 36% graduation rate holds outcomes to 1.5. The school points to physician assistant, chiropractic, strength and conditioning and public health as next steps.

Methodist earns a perfect 10 for flexibility: asynchronous 8-week terms, six start dates a year and up to 93 transferable credits. Its Monarch Momentum pathway gives students who finish the recommended coursework a guaranteed admission interview, not guaranteed admission, for Methodist's own physical therapy or occupational therapy doctorate. At $445 per credit, 124 credits come to $55,180.

Concordia Saint Paul gives you two lengths: the 120-credit degree at $50,400 or a 90-credit, three-year version at $37,800, both before transfer credit, at $420 per credit. The KHS 498 internship has to happen in person at an approved local site, which holds flexibility to 5. Active-duty, Guard, Reserve and spouses pay $250 per credit.

Parker lands at 31 of 46, and the factors explain why. Credential alignment is a full 10 because the curriculum is CASCE-accredited, the NSCA's accreditor, which matters for CSCS candidates once the 2030 bachelor's rule starts. Price pulls it down: $777 per credit gives cost a 1.1. It suits strength coaches, less so anyone shopping on tuition.

Monterey Bay charges $550 per semester unit whether you live in California or not, and this 50-unit completion program totals $27,500 in tuition. You'll need 60 or more transferable credits plus anatomy and physiology with labs before you apply. Track record is its best factor at 8.1, while no accreditation or exam alignment holds the score near 49.

FAU's cost factor is only 0.8 because the list scores it on the $799.72 non-resident rate. Florida residents pay $203.29 per credit, plus a $30 per credit distance fee, which changes the picture a lot. Depth and credential each earn a 7 for four strength and conditioning courses built around CSCS content and a required internship.

Every online student pays $445 per credit at Montreat, military included, so there's no residency math to do. Flexibility is its best factor at 8: eight-week courses, six starts a year, and ACE-verified credit for CLEP, DSST and military training. It's a faith-integrated general kinesiology degree with no accreditation credit, which keeps credential at 3.

Coaching is the only kinesiology emphasis at Lewis-Clark State listed with an online location, and you pick one coaching techniques course, from basketball to tennis. Cost carries it: $423 per credit earns a 7.3. Graduation and earnings data drop outcomes to 1.7, and a 6-credit internship is required. Pick it for coaching work, not the CSCS path.

Eastern Oregon's $338 per credit applies to all online students, but the degree runs 180 quarter credits, which is how the total reaches $60,840. Depth scores 8: labs in applied anatomy, biomechanics and exercise physiology, plus faculty who help you find a local internship. Graduation and earnings figures hold outcomes to 2.4.

Bryan is built for people who already hold its personal trainer certificate and associate degree. The completion portion costs $13,550 total over about 20 months with books included, while the associate before it runs about $32,325. Courses are asynchronous, eight weeks each. Cost and track record are scored at the peer median, so flexibility (7) does the work.

Tarleton's BAAS is the route for someone holding an applied associate degree (AAS) who worried the credits would go nowhere. Credit for prior learning can add 12 to 45 hours. Its track record factor is 9.9, reflecting how many kinesiology degrees Tarleton awards each year, while depth of 1 and credential of 3 keep the overall score near 45.

Concordia Texas is on this list for its NASM angle: every kinesiology major finishes with at least three NASM certifications, including personal trainer and corrective exercise. Online tuition is $550 per credit, or $350 with the Start Now Scholarship for new students. Four concentrations lift depth to 8, but no CAAHEP or CASCE accreditation holds credential at 5.

North Carolina Central's cost factor of 1.3 reflects the $727.67 out-of-state rate. Residents pay $185 per credit, a very different deal. Credential (7) and depth (8) come from ACSM-EP and CSCS goals, a program design course in strength and conditioning, and lab work delivered by recorded video. It isn't CAAHEP-accredited, which ACSM-EP candidates will need after August 15, 2027.

Cost sinks Whitewater on this list: the $845.68 non-resident rate scores a 0.1, while Wisconsin residents pay $424.82 per credit. What you get is asynchronous coursework, no campus visit, a 6-credit internship you can finish as a distance learner, and four online minors, including strength and conditioning. Outcomes score a solid 6.

Flexibility is 8 here: fully online, no residency, eight-week or 16-week courses, and up to 90 transfer credit hours. The flat $650 per credit has no out-of-state surcharge, books are included, and active military pay $250. The $79,300 total keeps cost at 1.8, and the Allied Health track builds PT, OT and athletic training prerequisites.

Oklahoma residents pay $236.50 per credit at Cameron, and active-duty personnel with orders to an Oklahoma duty location get that rate too. The list scores the $550.50 non-resident rate, so cost shows 3.2. Outcomes of 0.8 are the drag. The reason to consider it: the curriculum covers Oklahoma's physical therapist assistant prerequisites, with the physiology lab online.

Salem is really a biology degree with a 15-credit physiology and exercise science specialization, so it fits future physical or occupational therapy students better than fitness careers. Tuition is $550 per credit, $475 for residents of WV, IN, OH and PA, and $425 for active duty and veterans. You take one course a month. Outcomes of 0.6 are the weak spot.

East Central scores cost at the $668.80 non-resident rate, giving 1.5, though Oklahoma residents pay $331.80 per credit. Courses are asynchronous and eight weeks long, and up to 90 transfer credits count; ECU's cost page says that can bring the discounted price to $9,954. A 4-credit supervised practicum means hands-on hours. Outcomes of 1 place it 45 of 46.

At $575 per credit and $69,000 in tuition, the University of the Southwest is priced like a private school, so cost scores 2.9. The plan is biology-heavy, with genetics, cell biology, two chemistry courses and pathophysiology, and lists clinical exercise physiology and cardiac rehab careers. Ask how the labs are handled online before applying. Depth is 1 and outcomes 0.3.