Master's in Exercise & Sport Science

Why Earn Your MS in Exercise & Sport Science at Sacred Heart?

At SHU, you’ll gain an education that’s unique from other exercise science graduate programs - because here, you will not only be trained as a practitioner capable of eliciting the highest level of athletic performance from your athletes or clients, we will also train you in the instrumentation and data analytical skills needed to become a professional sport scientist.

In the Exercise & Sport Science graduate program, you will:

• Experience the flexibility of late afternoon/evening classes designed to meet the needs of full-time and part-time students
• Learn in state-of-the-art facilities, including a motion analysis lab, human cadaver lab and human performance lab containing state-of-the-art equipment including AlterG Anti-Gravity treadmill, ParvoMedics Metabolic Cart, BOD POD Body Composition Tracking System, 3D motion analysis system, and more
• Demonstrate best coaching practices, and develop management skills for private, high school, collegiate, or professional strength and conditioning settings
• Benefit from a student-to-faculty ratio of approximately 4:1
• Gain experience through multi-semester internships, providing opportunities to design and implement your own training programs under the mentorship of Division 1 head S&C coaches
• Work side-by-side with faculty members in research related to athletic performance, sport nutrition, applied physiology, or biomechanics.
• Pursue your bachelor’s and master’s degrees in just five years through our accelerated program
• Be prepared to continue your education and acquire a terminal degree (e.g., Ph.D., Ed.D.)

Enter a career with endless opportunity and growing demand. Employment in the health and fitness industry is projected to grow steadily through 2026.¹ 

(1) Bureau of Labor Statistics

Graduates of Sacred Heart’s Exercise & Sport Science program are employed as:

• Strength and conditioning coaches for high school, collegiate, and professional athletic departments
• Lead Sport Scientists for collegiate athletic departments in charge of data analytics and athlete monitoring
• Directors of performance for international Olympic teams
• Head Coaching positions at Division 1 & 3 Universities
• Full-time University faculty members who continued their studies into PhD programs
• Entrepreneurs who designed, built, and continue to manage their own private strength and conditioning facilities
• Medical device sales associates
• Health Service directors for assisted living communities
• Chief Health Officers for medically supervised weight loss companies
• Directors of health and wellness for app-based exercise companies
• Post-rehabilitation program exercise specialists

See detailed descriptions of select alumni

Dual Degree Option

Students apply to the Bachelor’s-Master of Science in Exercise & Sport Science (EXSS) Dual Degree Program as incoming freshmen and are admitted directly into the graduate program at the same time as their admission as undergraduate students. Students may pursue one of two pathways to the Master of Science in Exercise & Sport Science program:

• Accelerated 3+2 Bachelor’s-Master of Science in Exercise & Sport Science
  Complete three years of undergraduate coursework and two years of graduate coursework, earning both a bachelor’s degree and the Master of Science in Exercise & Sport Science degree within five years.
• 4+2 Bachelor’s-Master of Science in Exercise & Sport Science
  Complete the bachelor’s degree in the traditional four-year time frame and complete two years of graduate study in the EXSS program, earning both the bachelor’s degree and the master’s degree within six years.

More Information