With the rise of health and wellness to the top of the nation's agenda, there is no better time to tap into the plentiful job market for helping people lead healthier lives through exercise, rehabilitation, and nutrition. Mercy's new Exercise Science program includes a strong core science component on the science of human movement along with courses focusing on the practical applications of maintaining health through fitness and nutrition, cardiac rehabilitation, injury and illness prevention, athletic counseling, and sports training. A B.S. in Exercise Science also prepares students for further study in biomechanics, exercise physiology, sports psychology, and motor control. Elective courses provide exploration in the related areas of sports psychology as well as sports management. In addition to launching this new major, Mercy College is creating a dedicated exercise science lab with state-of-the-art exercise testing equipment to facilitate course study across the program.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment of fitness workers is expected to increase 29% from 2008 – 2018. With an exercise science undergraduate degree, students will have a wide array of career opportunities in fields such as occupational safety and health, sports coaching, personal training in public and corporate settings, cardiac rehabilitation, private sports medicine clinics, corporate wellness, and athletic directors. The B.S. in Exercise Science is also valuable to help prepare students moving into graduate programs for careers in physical therapy, occupational therapy, sports psychology, and physicians assistants, and kinesiology. Click here for a more comprehensive list of career opportunities in Exercise Science.