Exercise Science Major (B.S.)

This curriculum prepares students for careers in health and fitness promotion and allied programs in hospitals, sports medicine centers, wellness clinics, universities, and rehabilitation facilities. Students are also prepared for advanced degree programs in the health professions, basic biology fields, medicine, or other health-related fields.

Interested students should consult with the undergraduate major coordinator, Summer.Cook@unh.edu.

Degree Requirements

All Major, Option and Elective Requirements as indicated.
*Major GPA requirements as indicated.

Major Requirements

Students must earn a grade of C (2.0) or better in every required course. Successful completion of early and prerequisite courses is required before advancing to sequenced and higher-level coursework. All required courses must be completed before enrolling in EXSC 650A Internship in Exercise Science.

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These courses give students practical experience in evaluating health and fitness and prescribing exercise to a wide range of clients. Specifically, students assess a number of disease risk factors, including blood pressure, blood chemistry, and body composition measures, and perform maximal graded exercise tests complete with electrocardiogram monitoring, as well as measure strength and flexibility. Students ultimately develop individualized exercise prescriptions for their clients and work with them one-on-one to improve their health and fitness. The internship experience is an off-campus, 10-week, 40-hours per week, full-time experience and can only be taken after all University and departmental courses are completed. Typically, this is taken during the summer after the student's senior spring academic term. 

Suggested Course Sequence

• Apply fundamental principles of anatomy & physiology, chemistry, nutrition, exercise physiology, psychology, math and physics to anticipate and understand physiologic responses to acute and chronic exercise.  
• Evaluate empirical literature in terms of accuracy, authority, bias and relevance, and synthesize information from a variety of sources for presentation in written and oral forms.
• Demonstrate competency in health and fitness assessments and use them to prescribe evidence-based exercise interventions to improve health, athletic performance, physical function and quality of life in diverse populations.   
• Display professionally appropriate behaviors, ethical standards, sensitivity, compassion, and tolerance of individual differences, and demonstrate the ability to work in an interprofessional healthcare team.