Best Online Exercise Science Programs in Georgia (2026)

• Top Bachelor's52.8 out of 100

  University of Toccoa Falls

  Exercise Science

  Georgia · B.S.

  University of Toccoa Falls's B.S. Review
• Top Master's74.1 out of 100

  Georgia Southern University

  Master of Science in Kinesiology, Coaching Education concentration (online)

  Georgia · M.S.

  Georgia Southern University's M.S. Review
• Top Associate66.8 out of 100

  Georgia State University

  Kinesiology and Health, Exercise Science Pathway (Associate of Science)

  Georgia · A.S.

  Georgia State University's A.S. Review

Georgia mixes two price models. Georgia State, Georgia Military College, the University of North Georgia and Georgia Southern charge every online student the same rate, so you don't need in-state status to get the low price. Augusta University splits its rate between residents and everyone else. The median in-state rate across Georgia's six programs is $279 a credit, and the lowest is $105.

Four of the six schools, Augusta, Georgia Southern, Georgia State and the University of North Georgia, appear on the University System of Georgia's institution list. Georgia Military College is a public two-year school founded in 1879 with a Corps of Cadets and campuses around the state. The University of Toccoa Falls is a private Christian school in North Georgia.

Georgia's job counts are small for the most specialized title. The BLS May 2025 estimates show 210 exercise physiologists at a median of $58,170, with the bottom 10 percent earning $44,980 or less and the top 10 percent earning $80,510 or more. Exercise trainers and group fitness instructors number 7,500 at $47,150. Coaches and scouts number 4,510 at $48,210, and the top 10 percent earn $80,900 or more.

State authorization matters if you look beyond Georgia. The Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission is the state's portal agency for the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA), and SARA-approved out-of-state schools can operate in Georgia without extra authorization. SARA doesn't cover approval by a professional licensing board, so check with the board if your goal is a licensed field such as physical therapy.

This page lists every online program in our database from a school based in Georgia, six in all, checked against each school's own pages on September 29, 2026. Inside each level, programs are ordered by the six-factor Online Program Score in our methodology: cost, outcomes, online flexibility, credential alignment, program depth and track record.

Cost uses the rate an out-of-state online student pays when the school publishes one, so a Georgia resident may pay less than the score assumes.

• School based in Georgia, program delivered online
• In-state rate shown when the school publishes one
• Scored on the same six factors as every list and ranked inside its degree level

Scores are the weighted sum of six factors (Cost 25%, Outcomes 20%, Online Flexibility 20%, Credential Alignment 15%, Program Depth 10%, Track Record 10%), version 1.0. The methodology page shows the rubric for each factor.

What Georgia Residents Pay for an Online Exercise Science Degree

Most Georgia schools keep online pricing simple. Georgia State charges $105 a credit hour to every fully online student, and Georgia Military College charges $169 in tuition plus a $23 course resource fee, with no out-of-state premium.

The University of North Georgia lists $320 a credit for its online master's whether you live in Georgia or not. It marks that fall 2026 chart tentative until the Board of Regents signs off.

Augusta University works differently. Its program page shows the in-state figures, $238 a credit and $675 in mandatory fees each semester, while its tuition page lists $863 a credit for out-of-state students. Distance-only students pay a $393 online learning fee instead of the $675. For 36 credits, tuition alone is $8,568 for a Georgia resident and $31,068 for someone from another state.

Add the fees before you compare. Georgia State's online learning fee tops out at $195 a semester for 9 or more credits, and Georgia Southern says online students also pay a technology fee and an online learning fee that vary with hours. Toccoa Falls is the reverse. It charges $400 a credit with $0 in additional fees, and the rate rises to $410 in 2027-2028.

Georgia also runs the HOPE Scholarship for degree-seeking Georgia residents. It applies to standard undergraduate tuition, so it can help with the associate and bachelor's options here but not the three master's programs. All six schools on this page appear on the state's HOPE eligible list.

The Georgia Student Finance Commission requires 12 or 24 consecutive months of Georgia residency, depending on where you lived at high school graduation. Ask the financial aid office how HOPE applies to an online rate.

Choosing Among Georgia's Three Online Master's Programs

Georgia Southern's coaching concentration is built for people who already coach. You finish 30 credits in 13 months, including a 3-credit coaching practicum in your own setting under a field supervisor. There's no GRE, the GPA minimum is 2.75 on your last 60 undergraduate credits, and the summer cohort's application deadline is April 29.

The curriculum follows the National Standards for Sport Coaches, and the National Committee for Accreditation of Coaching Education (NCACE) accredits it. The program launched in 1998 and has been fully online since 2007. What it isn't is an exercise physiology degree. Georgia Southern's other kinesiology concentrations, including Exercise Science, are in person in Statesboro only.

The University of North Georgia is the pick if you want the exercise science concentration online. The 30-credit degree lets you start in fall, spring or summer at $320 a credit.

But read the admissions list first. You need prerequisite courses, including Anatomy and Physiology I, Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology, with a C or better. You also need a GRE score of 301 unless your GPA is 3.0 or higher or you already hold a master's.

Augusta is the most flexible on paper and the hardest to rank. Our score of 31 uses the $863 non-resident rate, which is why it sits 97th of 99 master's programs. A Georgia resident pays $238. The non-thesis track is fully online with an internship, while the thesis track needs two semesters on the Augusta campus, typically the last two.

Augusta's page points doctoral-bound students to the thesis track and students who want hands-on practice to the non-thesis track. The program lists a 2.75 GPA minimum and requires no standardized test.

How Georgia Programs Fit the ACSM and CSCS Accreditation Rules

Two certification rules now shape any exercise science degree choice. Starting August 15, 2027, candidates for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP) and Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-CEP) credentials must graduate from an exercise science or exercise physiology program accredited by CAAHEP, or one that has started the CAAHEP process.

The second rule comes from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). From January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) exam need a bachelor's degree from a program accredited by the Council on the Accreditation of Strength and Conditioning Education (CASCE). Until December 31, 2029, a bachelor's degree plus CPR/AED certification is enough.

None of Georgia's six online programs is verified against either accreditor in our data, and that's a real limit. Toccoa Falls says its coursework aligns with ACSM standards without naming an exam. CAAHEP lists five Georgia exercise science bachelor's programs, at Clayton State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kennesaw State and Valdosta State, and none is flagged as distance education.

That's why Georgia's associate programs are more useful than they look. Georgia State's online A.S. pathway leads toward its B.S. in Exercise Science on the Atlanta campus, which CAAHEP has accredited since 2007, and the school calls the transfer seamless. You'd finish the last two years in person, but you'd do the first 60 credits at $105 each. The pathway isn't a major and doesn't appear on the diploma.

Georgia Military College takes the same approach at $169 a credit. It lists guaranteed-acceptance transfer agreements with Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Mercer and Berry. Its credits are quarter hours, 97 or 100 in total, so ask each four-year school how they convert before you plan on a semester-for-semester swap.

If physical therapy is the goal, the American Physical Therapy Association says you need a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from an accredited program, and most programs expect a bachelor's degree first. It doesn't name a required major. Our pre-physical therapy list shows which online degrees say they prepare you for it.

National Online Options Georgia Residents Should Compare

Georgia's six programs don't cover every goal, so look outside the state for what's missing. For a CAAHEP-accredited bachelor's, Northeastern State University's online B.S. in Health and Human Performance in Oklahoma charges non-Oklahoma residents $279 a credit, barely above what Oklahomans pay. It's a 120-credit degree.

For a CAAHEP master's in clinical exercise physiology, Lebanon Valley College charges more than twice Georgia Southern's rate for 33 credits. It requires three residency weekends in Annville, Pennsylvania and a 600-hour in-person internship. The University of Mary charges $670 a credit and brings you to Bismarck, North Dakota for a one-week lab each semester.

For strength and conditioning, the University of Missouri's B.S. in Sport Science with a strength emphasis is CASCE accredited and fully online, with no campus visits. It isn't cheap, and it costs far more per credit than any Georgia program. At the master's level, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's MS in Kinesiology is CASCE accredited and fully online.

If you want the best-scoring master's regardless of accreditation, the University of Florida's online master's in applied physiology and kinesiology tops our master's list at 79.2. It costs more per credit than North Georgia or Georgia Southern. Browse our master's ranking and the full CAAHEP and CASCE list to compare.