Physical and Sport Education
Master of Education
The Master of Education (MEd) in Physical and Sport Education is a non-thesis option for professionals, such as teachers, coaches, school administrators, and other fitness professionals. The degree is designed to promote best practices and enhance discipline knowledge in KHS professionals in public school districts, private schools, and other community-oriented agencies. All courses are presently offered through USU's Distance Education Program online.
The MEd degree provides an advanced course of study for students interested in teaching physical education and coaching. The master of education in kinesiology and health science is an online, non-thesis option for off-campus professionals, such as teachers, coaches, school administrators, and other fitness professionals.
Students who complete this program will not receive a teaching certificate. Students with an interest in obtaining coursework toward physical education teaching endorsement should plan to take other courses beyond the required coursework for this program to complete the endorsement requirements. See the Utah State Office of Education website https://www.schools.utah.gov/curr/pe?mid=909&tid=2.
Potential Career Opportunities
The degree is designed to promote best practices and enhance discipline knowledge in professionals interested in advancing their levels of education and pay.
Employment opportunities are commonly found in positions such as:
- phyical education teaching at all levels,
- coaching at all levels, and
- athletic management.
For more information visit the USU Catalog or USU Degree Finder.
Graduate Program Coordinator
Melissa Johnson
Coordinator of Programs III
Kinesiology and Health Science
Program Director
Eadric Bressel
Department Head
Kinesiology and Health Science
Admissions
Prerequisite Requirements
Candidates for the physical and sport education program are expected to have completed an undergraduate degree in good standing. Typically, students will have completed their undergraduate degree in Physical Education or another teaching degree but there is no prerequisite or restriction on what undergraduate degrees are acceptable. Student are accepted from many different educational backgrounds.
Application Requirements
Students desiring to enroll in the physical and sport education program must be admitted to the Utah State University School of Graduate studies. The application requires the following:
Students desiring to enroll in the physical and sport education MEd program must be admitted to the Utah State University School of Graduate studies. As students start an application they will create a log-in that will allow them to come back in and complete their applications. The application has two parts, the initial application and the supplemental items. Students must complete the initial application and pay the application fee before you can access the supplemental materials.
The supplemental materials require the following:
- Official transcripts from all previously-attended colleges and universities to be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies:
- If by mail, transcripts can be mailed to:
School of Graduate Studies
Utah State University
0900 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-0900 - If by electronic clearinghouse, transcripts can be emailed to graduateadmissions@usu.edu.
- USU alumni do not need to provide USU transcripts; the School of Graduate Studies will pull them for you.
- If by mail, transcripts can be mailed to:
- Admission GPA of 3.0 or above. The admissions GPA is calculated based on the last 60 semester or 90 quarter credits taken, not the overall GPA.
- Three (3) letters of recommendation. All letters of recommendation should be professional references and at least two (2) letters should come from faculty members.
- Letters come directly from the referee, not the students. Students will include the contact information for referees in the application. The referees will then be contacted with instructions to submit the letters for the student.
- Statement of purpose responding to and addressing the questions stated in the prompt below:
- Prompt: Please describe your inteterest in graduate school and relevant experiences and qualifications.
- International students have additional requirements to meet
- Proof of English Language Proficiency
- Certified English Translations of Transcripts
For more information visit the USU Grad School website, steps to apply.
Admission Deadlines
Fall semester (August start date)
July 1
Spring semester (January start date)
December 1
Estimated Cost of the Program
$19597.63 - 36 credits*
$17175.36 - 33 credits*
*Tuition and fees are affected by many factors including residency, student location (Zip Code), number of credits taken, student level (undergrad vs grad). In addition, the tuition and fee rates change each year. This estimate is based on a student studying in the Logan area finishing the program in 2 years (6 semesters), with Utah residency using the tuition and fee table from the current year.
USU Registrar Tuition & Payment 2023-2024 Tuition and Fee Table
Assistantships
The KHS Department offers graduate assistantship (GA) opportunities for students based in Logan, Utah who have been accepted into one of the department's graduate programs.
Students interested in these positions complete the GA application, submitted directly to the department. This is separate from the admissions application, submitted to the Graduate School. The deadline for both applications is March 1 to be considered for a GA position. Positions are awarded for the coming Fall and Spring semesters.
More information: KHS Graduate Assistantships
Program Requirements
New Student Orientation
The PSED MEd program organizes an orientation session for its incoming students. Upon acceptance into the program, students can expect to receive an email from the program director containing comprehensive details, including the confirmed date and other essential information about the orientation event.
Advising
Students in the KHS department are are advised by both the department graduate program coordinator (GPC) and their Major Professor (Faculty Advisor/Mentor). Both roles can and will help students to successfully fulfill program and graduation requirements and navigate through the process of getting a degree.
Graduate Program Coordinator
Graduate Program Coordinators (GPCs) are a critical link between the School of Graduate Studies (SGS), departments, and graduate students. GPCs can assist graduate students with deadlines, degree completion, registration errors and restrictions, and all graduate school related paperwork (e.g. supervisory committee approval form, program of study, & graduation check request). Frequently, the student's first contact when they have questions or concerns is the GPC. If a student is unsure who to contact with questions, their first contact should be the GPC.
Major Professor/Faculty Advisor
A student's faculty advisor will help advise students on the courses to take to better prepare them for careers they are pursuing and on successful completion of the program requirements (research/internship requirements, etc). Faculty advisors are assigned to the students by the program director as students enter the program. These faculty advisors will typically continue to serve in this role for a student through the completion of their degree, though changes can be made if needed. Until a student has a faculty advisor in place, students can contact the program director with questions.
Practicum Experiences
In addition to completing the required course work student will be expected to complete both a creative project and internship for their culminating experience. An important part of the Physical and Sport Education MEd program will be the internship experiences and project. This will provide professional experience and experiential learning for the student.
The Creative Project -
KIN 6960 (3 credits)
Through the creative project, students have the opportunity to make a practical application of knowledge to a professional interest with the goal of further developing their professional effectiveness.
Students are required to complete a proposal for the project to avoid misunderstanding and protect the best interests of the students and program. The proposal provides a record for both the student and faculty advisor of the specific nature and extent of the project.
- Students should first meet with their faculty advisor to discuss potential project topics.
- Students should complete a proposal for the project addressed during these meetings.
- Examples of previous projects in the past have included coaching manuals, website design, and classroom curriculum.
- This meetings should happen during the semester prior to when a student is planning to complete the project.
- Once a project/proposal has been agreed on students should register for the master project credits in Banner.
- Students will complete the project and produce a final written document for their project.
- The final write-up is presented to their Faculty mentor for final approval.
- Projects must be completed by the middle of the semester that a student plans to graduate.
- If a student has registered for the Master Project some semester before their final semester they do not have to complete all requirements during the semester that they have registered. This should be coordinated with the instructor and faculty advisor.
Once registered students will have access to the official Canvas course with more detailed instructions and guidelines for students to follow.
Internship -
KIN 7550 (6 credits)
The internship is a crucial part of the PSED MED degree. The purpose of the internship is for students to have the chance to observe physical education teaching and to report and evaluate that teaching from their observations. Students are required to complete six (6) credit hours of internship work as part of the degree, this will include 150 contact hours.
Students are responsible to contact their faculty advisor and arrange for this internship through email, phone, or in person.
- Students initiate a meeting with their faculty advisor to discuss their career goals and options.
- Faculty advisors give suggestions for potential locations and contact information, if available.
- Internships normally take place within educational settings including, but not limited to: observation of teaching, observation of coaching, and summer clinics, professional conferences.
- Students are responsible to contact potential internship sites to secure a position and register for internship credits in Banner.
- Goals and objectives are set with the student, internship site, and faculty advisor. Students should complete an internship plan at the beginning of their internship experience.
- If a student completes multiple internship opportunities, there should be an internship plan submitted at the start of each of the experiences.
- Students will keep a log of their contact hours and journal of observation throughout their internship experience.
- The final log and journal is presented to the student's faculty advisor.
- Projects must be completed by the middle of the semester that a student plans to graduate.
- If a student has registered for the Master Project some semester before their final semester they do not have to complete all requirements during the semester that they have registered. This should be coordinated with the instructor and faculty advisor.
Once registered students will have access to the official Canvas course with more detailed instructions and guidelines for students to follow.
General Program Requirements
For completion of this program students must complete the required courses and credits for this program. In special cases, the student’s committee may approve elective coursework outside of the listed program. Students that are particularly well prepared and have already completed elements of the core curriculum may substitute a required core course for a course that has strong content knowledge related to physical education teaching.
The curriculum for this program had been updated, with changes being applied starting for the Summer 2023 semester. Below are links for tracking sheets for students accepted into the program.
- Must have at least 15 credits at the 6000 level or above. Coursework below the 5000 level should be in areas outside the student's graduate degree field, and must be approved.
- Courses students are expected to take as undergraduates or as prerequisites for graduate courses may not be included.
- Up to 12 credits taken prior to starting at USU may transfer towards a student's program with approval and should be communicated to the GPC.
- Credits in the following areas are not acceptable: foreign languages, continuing graduate advisement, individual home study, military science, and courses numbered below 3000.
| Total Credits | 36 (admitted before Sum 2023) 33 (admitted after Sum 2023) |
| Minimum GPA* | 3.0 |
| Minimum Grade* | C |
| Completion of Internship and Master Project requirement | |
| Completion of all required Graduate School forms | |
*To earn a 3.0 GPA or better students need to receive grades of a B average or higher. While grades as low as a C are permitted, a C is lower than the required average and students will need to receive an A grade in two other courses (of equivalent credits) to offset the effects of the low grade on their overall GPA.