Best Online Exercise Science Programs in Mississippi (2026)

• Top Bachelor's60.2 out of 100

  University of Southern Mississippi

  Fitness and Nutrition, B.S.

  Mississippi · B.S.

  University of Southern Mississippi's B.S. Review
• Top Master's59.0 out of 100

  University of Mississippi

  Master of Science in Exercise Science (Online)

  Mississippi · M.S.

  University of Mississippi's M.S. Review

Mississippi's online exercise science options come from three public universities. The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg has three of the five programs, Mississippi State University has one, and the University of Mississippi, known as Ole Miss, in Oxford has one. Each charges residents and non-residents the same online rate, so you can choose on fit instead of your ZIP code.

That also makes an out-of-state search worth your time. Many national schools publish one flat online rate, and some sit well below Mississippi prices. University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky lists $220 a credit hour with fees and books included, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette charges a flat $380 with no out-of-state fees. Our Louisiana, Alabama and Tennessee pages cover the neighboring states.

The job market is small for the exact title. BLS counted 30 exercise physiologists in Mississippi in May 2025, 1,260 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors, and 1,770 coaches and scouts. Plan for hospital, wellness and coaching roles, or for graduate school, along with the exercise physiologist title itself. The pay section below has the wage figures.

Mississippi takes part in NC-SARA, the agreement that lets a school in one member state enroll online students in another, and the Mississippi Commission on College Accreditation is the state's portal contact.

Before you apply out of state, check that the school is a participant in the NC-SARA institution directory and ask whether it can enroll students who live in Mississippi. Authorization only covers whether the school may enroll you. It doesn't tell you whether the degree meets certification rules, so check those separately.

A program makes this list when the school is based in Mississippi, its own page describes an online exercise science, kinesiology, fitness or sport science degree, and the delivery is fully online or a degree-completion path. Inside each level, programs are ordered by the six-factor score in our methodology: cost, outcomes, online flexibility, credential alignment, program depth and track record.

Outcomes use each school's IPEDS graduation rate for the whole institution, not just exercise science: 49% at Southern Miss, 67% at Mississippi State and 72% at Ole Miss. We don't rank on-campus degrees, and we left out online sport management and sport analytics degrees because they focus on business rather than exercise science.

• School based in Mississippi, 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 Online Tuition Costs at Southern Miss, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss

Southern Miss says on its tuition page that it waives out-of-state tuition for fully online programs. Undergraduates pay $433.59 a credit hour part time, or a flat $5,197 a semester at 12 to 19 hours, which is $10,394 a year. Graduate students pay $578.12 a credit hour part time, or the same $5,197 flat at 9 to 13 hours.

Run both versions of the math. Thirty credits at $578.12 comes to $17,343.60, but three full-time semesters at $5,197 each costs less if you can carry about 10 credits a term. The prices leave out the online delivery fee and course fees, which the Kinesiology and Fitness and Nutrition pages put at $20 to $150 per credit hour. The Coaching and Sport Performance page says $20 to $60.

First-time fully online students can get a $500 Online Student Scholarship toward the first semester. Southern Miss also runs a Center for Military Veterans that lists GI Bill assistance, military-only scholarships and no out-of-state tuition. No military tuition rate is posted, so compare prices in our military ranking.

Mississippi State's B.A.S. in Professional Studies charges $452 a credit hour plus a $25 instructional support fee, and students in and out of state pay in-state tuition. Up to 60 community college hours transfer in, so you won't pay for all 120 credits at that rate.

The catch is who can apply. Only students with an Associate of Applied Science degree are eligible. The kinesiology page lists its courses for information purposes only, and the current emphasis lists on the main B.A.S. page show health promotion but not kinesiology. Ask the B.A.S. advisor in writing that kinesiology is open before you apply.

Ole Miss says graduate courses through Ole Miss Online are charged per credit hour at in-state rates regardless of residency, and programs may add fees. To price the 31-credit M.S. in Exercise Science, use the Bursar's tuition calculator and choose Graduate Professional Online Degree Program. Assistantships aren't available to online students.

For scale, online bachelor's degrees in our data have a median of $445 a credit and master's degrees $610. Southern Miss's $433.59 and Mississippi State's $452 sit near the bachelor's median, and Southern Miss's $578.12 sits a little under the master's median. Cheaper options exist, and our cheapest ranking starts bachelor's degrees at $220 a credit.

Which Mississippi Programs Meet the 2027 and 2030 Certification Rules

Two rule changes matter if you want to sit for a certification.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) says that effective Aug. 15, 2027, candidates for the ACSM-EP (Certified Exercise Physiologist) and ACSM-CEP (Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist) must graduate from a program accredited by CAAHEP, the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, or one that has started the process. ACSM explains it on its programmatic accreditation page.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) sets the second rule. Starting Jan. 1, 2030, U.S. candidates for the CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist) need a bachelor's degree from a program accredited by CASCE, the Collegiate Accreditation for Strength and Conditioning Education. Until then, a bachelor's degree and current CPR/AED certification are enough.

None of the five Mississippi programs appears on our verified CAAHEP or CASCE lists. Southern Miss's on-campus Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology in Hattiesburg is on the CAAHEP list with initial accreditation dated May 17, 2024. But it's a campus degree, and the online bachelor's is Fitness and Nutrition, a different program.

The Coaching and Sport Performance master's carries accreditation from the National Committee for Accreditation of Coaching Education, which covers coaching education, not these two certifications.

That doesn't shut every door. Personal trainer certifications such as the ACSM-CPT and NSCA-CPT don't require a degree, and the Fitness and Nutrition bachelor's includes a certification prep course in the last semester for ACSM, NSCA and ACE exams. The prep course isn't the certification itself.

If the ACSM-EP or the CSCS is your goal, price out an accredited national program. Northeastern State University in Oklahoma has a fully online bachelor's with verified CAAHEP accreditation at $279 a credit for non-Oklahoma residents. Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has a fully online kinesiology master's with CASCE accreditation for its strength and conditioning specialization. See the full certification-ready ranking and our accreditation guide.

Mississippi Pay for Exercise Physiologists, Trainers, and Coaches

The Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey for May 2025 counts 30 exercise physiologists in Mississippi. Their median pay is $43,060 and their mean is $51,100, with a 10th percentile of $34,980 and a 90th percentile of $93,640. Nationally the median is $59,460 across 8,560 jobs, so Mississippi pays less and hires very few people under this exact title.

Trainers are the bigger employer. Mississippi has 1,260 exercise trainers and group fitness instructors with a median of $30,540, against $47,160 nationally. Coaches and scouts add 1,770 jobs, which matters if you're weighing the Coaching and Sport Performance master's at Southern Miss.

Read those numbers as a reason to plan. A degree from these programs can point toward hospital cardiac rehab, corporate wellness, strength and conditioning or graduate school, and many of those jobs post under other titles. The BLS table counts only one title. Our exercise physiologist salary page breaks down pay by state, and the career guide explains the daily work.

Planning for Physical Therapy School From Mississippi

Southern Miss's Kinesiology master's and Ole Miss's Exercise Science master's both name physical therapy applicants as an audience. Before you count on that, read the target school's requirements. The University of Mississippi Medical Center's Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) admission page applies to students entering in Summer 2027 or later. It asks for a 3.0 overall GPA, a 3.0 prerequisite GPA and Graduate Record Examination scores.

You also need 40 hours of observation across at least two physical therapy settings, plus eight prerequisite courses. Those are one statistics course, two biology, two chemistry and two physics courses with labs, and one upper-level biology, chemistry or physics course. Combined human anatomy and physiology doesn't count as a prerequisite.

The master's courses those two schools list are exercise science courses, such as cardiovascular physiology and advanced biomechanics, not general chemistry or physics with labs. Plan to finish the lab sciences separately, and email the DPT pre-admissions counselor with your transcript before you enroll. Other DPT programs set their own prerequisites.

Our pre-physical therapy ranking and pre-PT guide cover national options.