Exercise Physiology

Types of Degrees Exercise Physiology Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many exercise physiology and kinesiology graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	5,210
Master’s Degree	984
Doctor’s Degree	84
Associate Degree	10
Graduate Certificate	10
Basic Certificate	1

What Exercise Physiology Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, exercise physiology majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Exercise Physiology Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills for Exercise Physiology Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to exercise physiology:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Exercise Physiology Majors

Exercise Physiology majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Exercise Physiology Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with exercise physiology:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Exercise Physiologists	13.2%	$49,270
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	13.4%	$84,810

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Physiology?

This major is dominated by women with about 60% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of exercise physiology majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	239
Black or African American	318
Hispanic or Latino	605
White	3,645
International Students	92
Other Races/Ethnicities	311

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Exercise Physiology, too. About 1.8% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Exercise Physiology

Some careers associated with exercise physiology require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to exercise physiology have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Bachelor’s Degree	17.3%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	5.7%
Master’s Degree	37.6%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.1%
Doctoral Degree	15.5%
Post-Doctoral Training	24.3%

Online Exercise Physiology Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	0	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	1	0
Bachelor’s Degree	4	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	71	4
Post-Master’s	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	29	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Exercise Physiology

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to exercise physiology.

Major	Number of Grads
General Physiology	3,110
Pathology/Experimental Pathology	313
Other Physiology, Pathology, & Related Sciences	215
Oncology & Cancer Biology	188
Vision Science/Physiological Optics	84
Biomechanics	68
Molecular Physiology	40
Cell Physiology	40
Reproductive Biology	40
Aerospace Physiology & Medicine	30
Cardiovascular Science	18
Endocrinology	8

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.