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Sports teacher education requirements
Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
There are several educational requirements to become a sports teacher. Sports teachers usually study health education, kinesiology, or education. 65% of sports teachers hold a bachelor's degree, and 15% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 128 real sports teacher resumes to see exactly what sports teacher education sections show.
The most common colleges for sports teachers are the University of Central Florida and the University of Central Florida.
There are also many online sports teacher courses to help get the education required to be a sports teacher.
What education do you need to become a sports teacher?
What degree do you need to be a sports teacher?
- Bachelor's, 65%
- Master's, 15%
- High School Diploma, 10%
- Diploma, 5%
- Other Degrees, 5%
What should I major in to become a sports teacher?
- Health Education, 27%
- Kinesiology, 19%
- Education, 8%
- Other Majors, 41%
Most common colleges for sports teachers
| Sports teacher common college | Percentages |
|---|---|
| University of Central Florida | 8.70% |
| Long Island University | 8.70% |
| University of Maryland - College Park | 8.70% |
| Knox College | 4.35% |
| Rice University | 4.35% |
Best majors for sports teachers
| Rank | Major | Percentages |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Health Education | 26.6% |
| 2 | Kinesiology | 18.8% |
| 3 | Education | 7.8% |
| 4 | General Education, Specific Areas | 4.7% |
| 5 | Elementary Education | 4.7% |
Best colleges for sports teachers
The best colleges for sports teachers are Harvard University, Northwestern University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.
A sports teacher with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for sports teachers. 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 sports teachers.
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
In-state tuition
$50,420
Enrollment
7,582
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-state tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-state tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
4. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
In-state tuition
$8,987
Enrollment
18,946
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$59,430
Enrollment
8,216
6. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
In-state tuition
$15,262
Enrollment
30,079
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$51,354
Enrollment
7,083
8. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$14,184
Enrollment
30,845
9. University of Washington
Seattle, WA • Private
In-state tuition
$11,207
Enrollment
30,905
10. University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA • Private
In-state tuition
$17,653
Enrollment
16,405
20 best online courses for sports teachers
Advertising disclosure
1. Activism in Sports and Culture
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,...
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Today, there is demand for people skilled in Sports Marketing. Organizations want your expertise to strength and grow customer bases and teams want to enlarge their fan base, attract new sponsors to their sport, build strong programs with existing sponsors, and run their fan conventions and other events. In addition, a wide range of companies recognize the value sports relationships have in positioning and building their brands. In this Sports Marketing MOOC, you will learn: — Ticket pricing...
3. Sports Management: The Essentials Course
A Comprehensive Overview at How the Sports Industry Operates and the Challenges Facing the Modern Sports Industry Today...
4. Applied Sport Psychology and Leadership in Sport Certificate
Enhance your knowledge of sport psychology from an athlete or coach perspective with this comprehensive applied course...
5. Sports Performance Analytics
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...
6. Data Analytics in Sports Law and Management
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...
7. Introductory Sport Psychology
Developing sport psychology skills that you can use when you train, compete or coach...
8. Sports Nutrition for Athletes and Fitness Enthusiasts
Learn all about sports nutrition with 7 hours of online video content and start training SMARTER instead of HARDER...
9. Sports Turf Management: Best Practices
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...
10. Build Sports Management System using JavaFX
By the end of this project, you will create a Sport Club Management System using JavaFX. This project will give you a great push towards mastering one of the most used programming languages in the world which is Java. In this project, you will be able to identify and apply many functions and features in JavaFX using SceneBuilder, which is a third-party application used to create a JavaFX GUI easily. You will also learn how to create controller classes in Eclipse that consist of methods that...
11. Sports Massage: The Technique Masterclass
Learn the most effective sports massage techniques for the entire body (2 CEUs)...
12. Sport Psychology for Athletes
Master the fundamentals of sport psychology to improve performance and gain a mental edge...
13. Introduction to Machine Learning in Sports Analytics
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...
14. Prediction Models with Sports Data
In this course the learner will be shown how to generate forecasts of game results in professional sports using Python. The main emphasis of the course is on teaching the method of logistic regression as a way of modeling game results, using data on team expenditures. The learner is taken through the process of modeling past results, and then using the model to forecast the outcome games not yet played. The course will show the learner how to evaluate the reliability of a model using data on...
15. Internationally Accredited Diploma in Sports Nutrition
Learn About The Fundamentals Of Sport Nutrition Science And How To Fuel Your Athlete Client...
16. Ashiatsu or Shiatsu Barefoot Sports Massage Therapy
Let your feet do the work for you!...
17. Sports Massage: Muscle Energy Technique Certificate Course
Grow your practice by learning sports massage the power of muscle energy techniques (2 CEUs)...
18. Sports Massage: Positional Release Certificate Course
Learn Sports Massage Positional Release Techniques to produce profound pain relief and improve bodily function (2 CEUs)...
19. Become a Professional Football (Soccer) Coach
The Complete Guide on how to become a Professional Football (Soccer) Coach...
20. Sports & Action Photography For Beginners
A foundational course for beginner and novice level photographers who want to learn how to photograph dynamic subjects...
Top 10 most affordable universities for sports teachers
The most affordable schools for sports teachers are Hunter College of the City University of New York, university of florida, and california state university - long beach.
If the best universities for sports teachers 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 sports teachers.
1. Hunter College of the City University of New York
New York, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,182
Cost of attendance
13,998
2. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
In-state tuition
$6,381
Cost of attendance
21,034
3. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,798
Cost of attendance
18,306
4. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York
Brooklyn, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,240
Cost of attendance
13,991
5. Lehman College of the City University of New York
Bronx, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,210
Cost of attendance
14,359
6. Queens College of the City University of New York
Queens, NY • Private
In-state tuition
$7,338
Cost of attendance
14,281
7. California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,749
Cost of attendance
14,823
8. Brigham Young University
Provo, UT • Private
In-state tuition
$5,620
Cost of attendance
18,136
9. California State University - Fullerton
Fullerton, CA • Private
In-state tuition
$6,886
Cost of attendance
17,645
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 sports teachers
The hardest universities for sports teachers to get into are Harvard University, Northwestern University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.
Some great schools for sports teachers 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 sports teachers 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. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
Admissions rate
5%
SAT average
1,520
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,508
3. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
Admissions rate
6%
SAT average
1,512
4. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
Admissions rate
8%
SAT average
1,492
5. University of Chicago
Chicago, IL • Private
Admissions rate
7%
SAT average
1,520
6. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
Admissions rate
10%
SAT average
1,514
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Admissions rate
4%
SAT average
1,497
8. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
Admissions rate
11%
SAT average
1,513
9. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
Admissions rate
15%
SAT average
1,506
10. University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN • Private
Admissions rate
18%
SAT average
1,502
Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for sports teachers
The easiest schools for sports teachers to get into are Barry University, san francisco state university, and wayland baptist university.
Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a sports teacher 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 sports teachers.
1. Barry University
Miami, FL • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,006
2. San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA • Private
Admissions rate
72%
SAT average
1,054
3. Wayland Baptist University
Plainview, TX • Private
Admissions rate
98%
SAT average
1,003
4. Mount Saint Mary's University
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Admissions rate
84%
SAT average
1,031
5. Texas A&M University - Kingsville
Kingsville, TX • Private
Admissions rate
89%
SAT average
1,035
6. Fresno Pacific University
Fresno, CA • Private
Admissions rate
85%
SAT average
1,053
7. California University of Pennsylvania
California, PA • Private
Admissions rate
97%
SAT average
1,007
8. College of New Rochelle, The
New Rochelle, NY • Private
Admissions rate
83%
SAT average
982
9. Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana, PA • Private
Admissions rate
93%
SAT average
1,019
10. The University of Texas Permian Basin
Odessa, TX • Private
Admissions rate
91%
SAT average
1,046
Average sports teacher salary by education level
| Sports teacher education level | Sports teacher salary |
|---|---|
| Master's Degree | $52,671 |
| Bachelor's Degree | $42,443 |
| Doctorate Degree | $53,389 |
Sports teacher education FAQs
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Updated January 8, 2025
Updated January 8, 2025