Exercise Science

The Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science is to prepare competent entry-level exercise science professionals in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (abilities) learning domains. With endless hands-on research opportunities and dedicated faculty support, this program creates leaders in the field of exercise science.

In this program, students will obtain:

Knowledge of physiology: Students will understand scientific and theoretical concepts of physiology critical to acting as an exercise scientist.
Assessment skills: Students will demonstrate practical skills including the ability to conduct a comprehensive fitness assessment.
Foundational knowledge of the field: Students will take, and be able to pass, a National Certification (either the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Exercise Physiologist (EP-C) or the National Strength and Conditioning (NSCA) Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

Personalize your degree by choosing from one of four concentrations:

Exercise Physiology

Prepares students for graduate school in exercise physiology or health care professions.

Exercise Specialist

Enables students to prepare for work in the clinical setting, ranging from a career in wellness to cardiac rehabilitation. The Exercise Specialist concentration is currently accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Programs (CAAHEP) and is a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Education Recognition program (ERP). An internship is the capstone experience for this concentration.

Pre-Physical/Occupational Therapy/Podiatric Medicine

Prepares students for subsequent graduate school in these areas. Students will gain hands-on experience through a supervised internship or a laboratory research experience. The pre-podiatric medicine track is designed to be a combined program with Kent State University's College of Podiatric Medicine. Successful completion of this program does not guarantee acceptance into the Doctor of Podiatric Medicine program. Please see the Podiatric Medicine doctoral program in the course catalog for more information about the application process and acceptance criteria.

Strength and Conditioning

Designed for students that wish to pursue a career in the field of strength and conditioning. This may include working with all levels of athletes in a strength and conditioning facility.

For more information on these concentrations, view the Exercise Science Plan of Study.

Based on our 2022-23 report to The Committee on Accreditation for the Exercise Sciences (CoAES) our retention rate was 93%. We had 67 undergraduate students admitted, with 62 of them graduating.

Combined Bachelor's/Master's program

This unique, fast-track program allows exceptionally well-prepared students to complete a 150-unique-hours policy, allowing a maximum of 9 credit hours of graduate coursework to double count in a combined degree program.

Based on COAES Guidelines here are data regarding our Undergraduate Program:

Table 1. Number of culminating experiences. The culminating experience may be met by an internship, mentorship or research project.

Table 2. ACSM-Exercise Physiologist Certified (EP-C) Examination Pass Rate

Have any questions? Contact program coordinator Dr. J. Derek Kingsley at jkingsle@kent.edu or 330-672-0222.