Degree Requirements

• Core Requirements

• Interest Areas

• Elective Hours

• Project or Thesis Option

The Master of Science in Kinesiology degree requires 

1. the completion of twelve (12) credit hours of core course requirements (four courses), 

2. nine credit hours in an interest area (three courses), 

3. elective hours, and 

4. a final project or thesis. 

The total number of hours for the degree is thirty-six (36).

Core Requirements

All students pursuing the Master of Science in Kinesiology are required to complete the following core of 12 semester credit hours

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Interest Areas

In addition, a student will select one of the following three areas of emphasis and take at least nine semester hours of course work from that area. Additional course work may be drawn from any area.

III. Teaching, Coaching and Administration

Elective Hours

Any of the graduate courses offered by the UT Permian Basin Kinesiology faculty may be used for elective hours. Students may take graduate courses offered through the UT TeleCampus as part of collaborative online Master's degree in Kinesiology for elective hours, also. For a complete list of all courses available for elective credit, click on Course Listing.

Although students may not include leveling course work in their graduate degree program, they may include a maximum of six semester credit hours of 4300-level courses with permission of their advisor.

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Project or Thesis Options

In addition to the various interest area choices, students may select either a thesis option or a non-thesis (project) option. Although there are differences between the two options, either option provides the student with an opportunity to work with a graduate faculty advisor to develop a proposal that describes what the student intends to do. The proposal is presented to and approved by the student's Graduate Committee, and, once completed, defended by the student in an oral presentation.

I. Thesis Option

Students who select the thesis option will complete a minimum of 30 semester credit hours of course work plus a six-semester credit hour thesis. The master's thesis consists of research in the application of principles and theories of human movement to some problem of interest. The research is usually a laboratory or field experiment requiring the testing of hypotheses and the collection and analysis of data.

II. Non-Thesis Option

Students who select the non-thesis option will complete a minimum of 33 semester credit hours of course work plus a three-semester credit hour research project. Projects can take many forms. While they may involve hypothesis testing and the collection and analysis of data, master's projects are more likely to take the form of exploratory, field studies, secondary data analysis, and survey research. Acceptable projects also include such activities as the construction of physical education curriculum, the development of online instructional materials, and the design of employee wellness programs. 

Both thesis and non-thesis options require completion of the core course requirements and at least nine semester credit hours in one of the three emphasis areas.

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