Best Online Exercise Science Programs in Virginia (2026)

• Top Master's69.8 out of 100

  Liberty University

  Master of Science in Exercise Science and Wellness

  Virginia · M.S.

  Liberty University's M.S. Review
• Top Doctorate68.1 out of 100

  Liberty University

  PhD in Health Sciences, Exercise and Sport Science

  Virginia · Ph.D.

  Liberty University's Ph.D. Review

Virginia has two schools with online exercise science programs we could verify. Liberty University is a large private nonprofit Christian university in Lynchburg, and it offers three of the four: two master's programs and a PhD. Old Dominion University in Norfolk is public and offers the fourth, a doctorate. No Virginia school has an online bachelor's on this page.

Virginia's other public universities don't fill the gap. ODU's M.S. in Exercise Science is taught on campus, and Virginia Commonwealth University's M.S. in Health and Movement Sciences lists no online option. If you want a public school's online exercise degree from inside Virginia, ODU's doctorate is the only one.

Liberty charges one online rate wherever you live: $600 a credit for its master's programs and $630 for the PhD, the same in every state. Part-time students pay $665 and $695. ODU lists $672 for Virginia residents and $662 for others. The lowest Virginia rate is $600, and the median across the four is $615.

Pay depends on the job. BLS puts Virginia's median for exercise physiologists at $52,400, with the 10th percentile at $43,800 and the 90th at $90,110. Only 240 people hold those jobs statewide. Trainers and group fitness instructors have a Virginia median of $40,820 and 12,100 jobs. Coaches and scouts have a median of $46,290 and 6,810 jobs.

Nationally, the medians are $59,460 for exercise physiologists, $47,160 for trainers and $47,320 for coaches. Virginia sits below all three. A degree from one of these programs doesn't set your pay, and the exercise physiologist market here is small.

Virginia belongs to the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA) through the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. That matters if you look at out-of-state schools, and the third section below shows how to check one.

Every program here comes from a school based in Virginia, and we verified that you can earn the degree online, either fully or with a few campus visits. That left four programs at two schools.

Within each level, we order them by our Online Program Score, a 0 to 100 total built from cost (25%), outcomes (20%), online flexibility (20%), credential alignment (15%), program depth (10%) and track record (10%). The full weights are in our methodology. BLS pay data never changes a score.

• School based in Virginia, 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.

How Liberty and Old Dominion Compare for Virginia Students

Level splits the four programs cleanly, so start there. Liberty's Master of Science in Exercise Science and Wellness is 33 credits, fully online and asynchronous. You pick an 18-credit specialization, either Fitness and Performance or Nutrition and Wellness. Courses run eight weeks with eight start dates a year, and you can transfer in up to half the degree.

Its prerequisites are physiology or exercise physiology, biomechanics or physics, and statistics. If your bachelor's is in something else, Liberty lets you take EXSC 505, Foundations of Human Performance, first. That's a workable door for a career changer.

The Master of Science in Human Performance is 35 credits with four concentrations: Clinical, Fitness and Wellness, Nutrition, and Strength Training and Conditioning. The catch is two required week-long intensives on campus in Lynchburg for lab work. Travel and lodging aren't in the $21,000 tuition, and Liberty itself points to Exercise Science and Wellness as the fully online choice.

The PhD in Health Sciences, Exercise and Sport Science is 60 credits at $630, and you can transfer up to 30. It ends in a dissertation. Service members and eligible spouses pay $310 a credit for the master's programs and $395 for the PhD, so check the military rankings too.

Old Dominion's Doctor of Applied Science in Kinesiology is built for a practitioner with a kinesiology-related master's or a clinical doctorate such as a DPT. It's 36 credits and ends in a capstone project instead of a dissertation. A cohort starts each fall, the next on August 23, 2027, and ODU says you can finish in as little as 2.5 years.

ODU's coursework centers on strategic communication, teaching methods and organizational change. It scores lower than Liberty's PhD partly because ODU's graduation rate is 46 percent against Liberty's 65 percent. Those are school-wide rates, and this program is new.

What the 2027 CAAHEP Rule Means for Virginia Students

CAAHEP lists active accreditation for exercise programs at six Virginia schools: James Madison University (a master's in kinesiology with an exercise physiology concentration), and bachelor's programs at George Mason, Liberty, Longwood, Marymount and Old Dominion. None of the four online programs on this page is one of them. Liberty's accredited degree is its residential B.S. in Exercise Science.

That matters because of a date. ACSM says that effective August 15, 2027, candidates for its Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP) and Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-CEP) credentials must graduate from a CAAHEP-accredited Exercise Science or Exercise Physiology program, or one that has started the process.

None of our four lists ACSM-EP or ACSM-CEP exam preparation. If either credential is your goal, ask ACSM's help center how the rule treats your degree before you enroll. Nationally, CAAHEP-accredited online degrees include Northeastern State University's bachelor's in Oklahoma at $279 a credit, and clinical exercise physiology master's programs at Lebanon Valley College and the University of Mary.

Both master's programs have campus time. Lebanon Valley asks for three residency weekends in Annville, Pennsylvania, plus a 600-hour clinical internship. Mary asks for a one-week lab each semester in Bismarck, North Dakota. Our guide to exercise science accreditation covers both rules in full.

The strength side has its own deadline. The NSCA says that from January 1, 2030, U.S. candidates for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) exam need a bachelor's from a CASCE-accredited program, and the current rule holds until December 31, 2029.

No Virginia school is on NSCA's CASCE list. The rule is about your bachelor's, so a master's concentration in strength training won't change it. See the CSCS guide.

How to Check a School From Another State Before You Enroll

Most of the best online options for a Virginian are in other states, so authorization is worth a few minutes. Virginia law says a degree-granting school that teaches Virginia residents online from outside the Commonwealth must be certified to operate here or take part in a reciprocity agreement Virginia belongs to. Virginia belongs to SARA.

Before you pay a deposit, look the school up in NC-SARA's institution directory, which you can reach from its student page. Then ask admissions to confirm in writing that it can enroll students who live in Virginia.

Ask about anything you'd have to do in person, too. As James Madison University explains, a school's approval can depend on where you are while you complete a practicum or a multi-week seminar. A clinical internship in another state can add a step.

SARA covers a school's permission to enroll you. It doesn't tell you whether a degree meets a licensing board's rules. If your goal is a licensed job, check the board's own requirements first.

Weighing Tuition Against What Virginia Pays

A degree is worth borrowing for only if the work can carry it. Liberty's Exercise Science and Wellness master's comes to $19,800 in tuition. Virginia's median for exercise physiologists is $52,400, and only 240 people hold those jobs statewide, so the local market is small.

Trainers and coaches are a bigger field. BLS shows 12,100 trainers and group fitness instructors in Virginia at a median of $40,820, and 6,810 coaches and scouts at $46,290. ACSM's personal trainer credential, the ACSM-CPT, asks for adult CPR/AED certification and no degree.

That doesn't make a master's a bad idea. It means the case for one rests on what you want to do: teach, run a program, work in a clinic or move toward a doctorate. Put Liberty's rate next to the cheapest online exercise science degrees and run the numbers on your own goal.