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Athletic coordinator education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become an athletic coordinator. Athletic coordinators usually study kinesiology, business, or health education. 70% of athletic coordinators hold a bachelor's degree, and 14% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 940 real athletic coordinator resumes to see exactly what athletic coordinator education sections show.

The most common colleges for athletic coordinators are the Texas State University and the Texas State University.

There are also many online athletic coordinator courses to help get the education required to be an athletic coordinator.

What education do you need to become an athletic coordinator?

What degree do you need to be an athletic coordinator?

The most common degree for athletic coordinators is bachelor's degree, with 70% of athletic coordinators earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 14% and master's degree degree at 9%.
  • Bachelor's, 70%
  • Master's, 14%
  • Associate, 9%
  • High School Diploma, 4%
  • Other Degrees, 3%

What should I major in to become an athletic coordinator?

You should major in kinesiology to become an athletic coordinator. 25% of athletic coordinators major in kinesiology. Other common majors for an athletic coordinator include business and health education.

Most common colleges for athletic coordinators

Athletic coordinators often get their degrees at Texas State University, Arizona State University, and University of Phoenix. Here are the most common colleges for athletic coordinators in the US based on their resumes.
Athletic coordinator common collegePercentages
Texas State University7.41%
Arizona State University6.48%
University of Phoenix6.48%
Texas A&M University6.48%
Prairie View A & M University5.56%

Best majors for athletic coordinators

RankMajorPercentages
1Kinesiology25.3%
2Business13.9%
3Health Education10.1%
4Education6.0%
5Psychology5.2%

Best colleges for athletic coordinators

The best colleges for athletic coordinators are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and University of Pennsylvania.

An athletic coordinator with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for athletic coordinators. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become athletic coordinators.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

3. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

4. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

5. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

6. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

7. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

8. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

In-state tuition

$17,653

Enrollment

16,405

9. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$15,094

Enrollment

32,974

10. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

20 best online courses for athletic coordinators

Advertising disclosure

1. The Science of Training Young Athletes

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Seventy percent of kids drop out of sports before their high school graduation. Only 15% leave because they feel they are not good enough. Almost 70% leave because they were not having fun, or due to problems with the coach. Injuries cause 30% to give up sports. This course is packed full of practical sports science information that provide youth coaches and parents with the practical pediatric sports science insights to successfully retain young athletes and develop their sport potential while...

2. Sports Turf Management: Best Practices

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The Sports Turf Management: Best Practices course will cover the construction, management, and challenges in maintaining athletic fields intended for football, soccer, and baseball. You will learn the fundamental management practices for maintaining athletic fields, such as fertilization, irrigation, mowing, and pest control. An overview of athletic field construction, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of native soil versus modified soil fields, will be provided. Lastly, you will...

3. Become a Professional Football (Soccer) Coach

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The Complete Guide on how to become a Professional Football (Soccer) Coach...

4. Sport Psychology for Athletes

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Master the fundamentals of sport psychology to improve performance and gain a mental edge...

5. Football: More than a Game

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Explore the world of football (soccer), the money, the rivalries, the trends, the past, the present, the men’s game, the women's game and the real issues. Whether you love it, hate it or try to ignore it – join us as we go behind the scenes to examine why football is more than just a game. From street soccer to multi-million dollar transfers, from the men’s game to the women’s, from the global to the local, from the beaches of Brazil to the fight against poverty this online course looks beyond...

6. Sports Performance Analytics

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Sports analytics has emerged as a field of research with increasing popularity propelled, in part, by the real-world success illustrated by the best-selling book and motion picture, Moneyball. Analysis of team and player performance data has continued to revolutionize the sports industry on the field, court, and ice as well as in living rooms among fantasy sports players and online sports gambling.\n\nDrawing from real data sets in Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball...

7. Sports Nutrition for Athletes and Fitness Enthusiasts

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Learn all about sports nutrition with 7 hours of online video content and start training SMARTER instead of HARDER...

8. Applied Sport Psychology and Leadership in Sport Certificate

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Enhance your knowledge of sport psychology from an athlete or coach perspective with this comprehensive applied course...

9. Activism in Sports and Culture

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Sports have become an ever-present reflection of American culture, and an important symbol of the divisions and alliances in our society. Sports and political change walk hand in hand in America. The way that athletes and institutions deal with questions of race, economic hardship, nationalism, and political ties have become central to the way that we understand ourselves and our society. And yet, there are those who would prefer their sports free of controversy and opinion. Dedicated athletes,...

10. Introduction to Machine Learning in Sports Analytics

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In this course students will explore supervised machine learning techniques using the python scikit learn (sklearn) toolkit and real-world athletic data to understand both machine learning algorithms and how to predict athletic outcomes. Building on the previous courses in the specialization, students will apply methods such as support vector machines (SVM), decision trees, random forest, linear and logistic regression, and ensembles of learners to examine data from professional sports leagues...

11. Internationally Accredited Diploma in Sports Nutrition

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Learn About The Fundamentals Of Sport Nutrition Science And How To Fuel Your Athlete Client...

12. Introductory Sport Psychology

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Developing sport psychology skills that you can use when you train, compete or coach...

13. Data Analytics in Sports Law and Management

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Athletes, lawyers and team executive experts provide insight in how law and regulations intersect with data analytics and sports management techniques for best practices in the sports industry. Several courses provide the basis for how data analytics function within player evaluation, team performance, and roster management. The specialization introduces various regulatory, managerial and legal frameworks that includes athlete representation, facilities, and event management and conclude with...

14. Game Physics - Introducing Gravitation & Rotation in Unity

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Step-by-step tutorial on how to create a basic rigid body motion physics from scratch. Taught in C# using Unity 3D free...

15. Roblox Programming and Game Creation

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Learn Roblox game creation step-by-step...

16. The Ultimate Soccer Guide Play Like A Pro Soccer Player

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17. Introduction to Football (Soccer) Tactics

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Gain a deeper understanding of the world of football with this guide to the basic principles of football tactics...

18. Ashiatsu or Shiatsu Barefoot Sports Massage Therapy

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Let your feet do the work for you!...

19. C++ Fundamentals: Game Programming For Beginners

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Learn to make games using industry standard C++ and Raylib...

20. Master Lua Programming and Create Amazing Games with LÖVE!

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Learn the basics of programming, then use that knowledge to create games with the beginner-friendly game engine: Love2D!...

Top 10 most affordable universities for athletic coordinators

The most affordable schools for athletic coordinators are California State University - Bakersfield, suny farmingdale, and baruch college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for athletic coordinators are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for athletic coordinators.

1. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

2. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

3. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

4. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

5. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

6. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

7. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

8. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

9. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for athletic coordinators

The hardest universities for athletic coordinators to get into are Northwestern University, University of Southern California, and University of Pennsylvania.

Some great schools for athletic coordinators are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for athletic coordinators based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

4. George Washington University, The

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

42%

SAT average

1,380

5. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

6. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

7. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

Admissions rate

26%

SAT average

1,427

8. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

9. University of Tulsa

Tulsa, OK • Private

Admissions rate

41%

SAT average

1,321

10. Southern Methodist University

Dallas, TX • Private

Admissions rate

51%

SAT average

1,395

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for athletic coordinators

The easiest schools for athletic coordinators to get into are Wayland Baptist University, barry university, and felician university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as an athletic coordinator without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for athletic coordinators.

1. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

2. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

3. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

4. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

5. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

6. Life University

Marietta, GA • Private

Admissions rate

94%

SAT average

979

7. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

8. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

9. Kean University

Union, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

991

10. Holy Family University

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,017

Average athletic coordinator salary by education level

According to our data, athletic coordinators with a Bachelor's degree earn the highest average salary, at $45,920 annually. Athletic coordinators with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $45,718.
Athletic coordinator education levelAthletic coordinator salary
Master's Degree$45,718
High School Diploma or Less$40,260
Bachelor's Degree$45,920
Some College/ Associate Degree$41,790

Athletic coordinator education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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